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US Political Firsts: Defecting Electors Unable and Unwilling to Support Romney

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by MrRoboto, Sep 14, 2012.

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  1. MrRoboto

    MrRoboto Member

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    http://news.yahoo.com/gop-elector-wont-vote-romney-resigns-074113894--election.html

    AMES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican appointed to the Electoral College, Melinda Wadsley was expected to cast her vote for Mitt Romney if he won the state of Iowa in the presidential election.

    Wadsley decided Thursday she couldn't in good conscience vote for Romney — she had backed Ron Paul during the GOP primary — and resigned to allow the Iowa GOP to choose someone else for that duty.

    "I have always been a straight-ticket Republican, and for the first time in my life I am an undecided voter, therefore, I need to resign my position as a Republican presidential elector," Wadsley said in an email exchange with The Associated Press.

    Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker said in a statement Thursday that the state party's central committee would begin the process of selecting a replacement, essentially allowing the party to confirm a die-hard Romney supporter.

    A mother of three in Ames, Wadsley was one of three electors featured in an AP story published early Thursday that noted some GOP electors were unsure they would vote for Romney if he won their states on Nov. 6. They had expressed frustration at how Republican leaders have worked to suppress Paul's conservative movement and his legion of loyal supporters.

    "They've never given Ron Paul a fair shot, and I'm disgusted with that," Wadsley told the AP for the story that preceded her resignation. "I'd like to show them how disgusted I am."

    Each party chooses people to serve as electors in the 50 states. In December, electors convene in each state capital to officially select the president and vice president.

    Occasionally a so-called faithless elector decides not to vote or to vote for someone other than the winner. The defection of multiple electors would be unprecedented in modern American politics.
     
    #1 MrRoboto, Sep 14, 2012
  2. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    I know in some states their is law stating that electors have to vote for the person on the ballot who won their state. I don't know if this is the case for Iowa but if she really felt she couldn't vote for Romney even if he carried Iowa then that is fine for her to exercise her conscious and avoid a legal or ethical conflict. Anyway I blame the state GOP more for this than Romney. They should've never nominated her to be an elector if they knew she was such a hard core supporter of Ron Paul.
     
    #2 rocketsjudoka, Sep 14, 2012
  3. MrRoboto

    MrRoboto Member

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    I believe it be a bigger issue.

    Alienating your own constituency to the point where even die-hard party-liners can no longer in good conscious support your candidate.

    If the debates go as I suspect this election is going to be a slaughter.
     
    #3 MrRoboto, Sep 14, 2012
  4. pirc1

    pirc1 Member

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    What if someone did vote for a person other than the party nominee? I had a high school teacher who said he almost voted for himself one time just for kicks but decided against it when the time came to cast the electoral vote.
     
    #4 pirc1, Sep 14, 2012
  5. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    Imagine the fallout if the race ended up tight and was only won because faithless electors switched sides! They'd have to go into the witness protection program or something.
     
    #5 JuanValdez, Sep 14, 2012
  6. larsv8

    larsv8 Member

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    Good to see she did the right thing twice. Both in turning her back on the cult that the Republican Party has become and resigning from her position if she wasn't unable to fulfil its purpose the right way.
     
    #6 larsv8, Sep 14, 2012
  7. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    This really depends on how many we see in the GOP turning down being electors. If it is only one or two I don't see it as a problem and that article only cited one. The two big parties are really giant coalitions and there is plenty of infighting in them. It wouldn't surprise me if in 2008 there were several potential Democratic electors who were weeded out because they were strong Clinton supporters. To me this seems more like a failure of the Iowa GOP more than a trend of the collapse of the GOP.
     
    #7 rocketsjudoka, Sep 14, 2012
  8. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    As I mentioned above many states have laws locking in electors. I highly doubt a faithless elector will change the election.
     
    #8 rocketsjudoka, Sep 14, 2012
  9. MrRoboto

    MrRoboto Member

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    True, but it could finally be signalling the end of a party that caters to evangelicals and radical conservatives. The Republican party will evolve out of necessity or it will be replaced.

    I wish we could develop a viable green party similar to Germany.
     
    #9 MrRoboto, Sep 14, 2012
  10. Major

    Major Member

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    If he/she did, it would probably officially be the end of the Electoral College.
     
    #10 Major, Sep 14, 2012
  11. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    Electoral College seems so quaint -- that we still appoint over 500 real live people to do something we already effectively do with one person, a pencil and a big block of voter data.

    In Bush v. Gore, Bush won by a very narrow electoral margin. A couple of defectors could have caused pandemonium. Besides, I don't care how likely it is -- I just think it's funny and interesting to think about the consequences.
     
    #11 JuanValdez, Sep 14, 2012
  12. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    One problem with that is that the electoral college is written specifically in the Constitution so it would take an amendment to change that which isn't going be be easy.
     
    #12 rocketsjudoka, Sep 14, 2012
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