Some people read that headline and are wondering if I am going to call for or suggest that Trump resign from office and have Pence pardon him. Yet that's not the strategy that I'm going to talk about, but rather Richard Nixon's election strategy that was used against JFK in an election very much similar to the one that we are facing today.
To give you a brief history lesson, Nixon and Kennedy were in a generally close election and there were similar evidences of voter fraud (ballot stuffing and so forth). So, during that election, a number of states also elected Republican electors along with their electoral college electors (this is a key to the process). There is a stipulation in the voting laws of our country that say that if just one Senator and one Representative both contest the election on the floor, the President of the Senate (Vice President Mike Pence) has the option to contest the election and present the evidence on the floor of the senate.
That's where it gets a little confusing, but in the end, if it can be proven that there was fraud in specific states, or that their elections were not secure enough, the state(s) in question will be given two options, use your alternate electors or revote your state. So, the fact that seven states, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and other battle ground states legislatures have elected an alternate slate of electors who are all Republican should be interesting. It's still a long shot, you still have to get one Senator and one Representative to stand up on the day of the electoral college vote and contest it, but it sets the stage for some late stage fireworks that could be very interesting to watch.
But what would that mean for us? Well, if the votes of those states get thrown out, then no one gets to 270 and the election goes to the house where each state gets one vote. Since Trump won the majority of the states, he'll win that vote. If they seat the alternate electors, that means that the electoral college will flip because the EC voters will vote Trump and not Biden. Is it likely? no, is it possible? Yes.
I know one thing for sure about Donald Trump, he doesn't like to lose, and if he feels that he's been cheated, he'll do whatever he can to expose it. I know that a lot of people are putting a ton of faith in the political process, but I don't believe that this election will be anywhere near that easy. I do expect fireworks at the electoral college and I do think that there will be a contested election, at least from the stand point that they will attempt to contest it.
This hasn't happened in a long time, March of 1877 to be precise, when Rutherford Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden by one single electoral vote. It had a number of repercussions, some good, some bad, but in the end, it left the country hurting and bitterly divided, not unlike we are right now. Yet, we've reached a point where that almost can't be helped. No matter what happens, half of the country is going to be angry, and even a compromise of President Biden and Vice President Pence likely wouldn't placate enough people to make the outcome palatable for anyone.
I do not expect anything about this election to be easy, the campaign wasn't, the voting wasn't, the counting wasn't, the calling wasn't, and the electoral college won't be.
I guess, in the end, what I'm saying is buckle up, because this is very far from over, even if it doesn't change a thing.
Comments