Day after the election

The day after the elections, the conservatives realize that they took a whipping that will not likely fade from memory soon. Across America, the day after elections, the loosing party pulls back, licks their wounds, and tries to figure out why they lost, and what to do now. I had done the math. I knew the race was lost for McCain when he didn’t pull off Ohio or Pennsylvania. There were no surprises here.

The economy was in shambles thanks to oil price fluctuations that fueled a hike on all prices and the rest of the economy was left to figure out what to do. Eventually it has begun to subside, but the recent memory of hardship struck a blow to the current conservative leadership in which American simply told the government that they were not happy with what was happening.

It is really not surprising that Barack Obama won the presidential election. Historically we see a shift when one party has a president in office for two terms. We kind of like swapping them out every once in a while. Plus, with a black person being the first major party candidate going into an election, you could kind of figure that it was going to be that way.
I wonder what happens now to the race baiters that have made their living for so long telling minorities that there is no hope. I kind of hope they are out of a job. That would be a true victory for America.
Conservatism didn’t suffer a wholesale defeat. All of the elections were relatively close and gay marriage bans won across the board, even in California.

We will have a chance to see what the democrats will do with their power. I am thankful that there was no super majority in congress. Frankly I disagree with some of the shenanigans that I see democrats trying to pull. Same goes for the republicans sometimes. Quite frankly, I don’t trust any of them. But at least they wont have a wholesale ability to shove unwanted legislation down America’s throat. I think the legislative branch is at its best when it is divided. That way real important legislation makes it through and the crap does not. Most of it anyway.

Obama scares me somehow. I just don’t know how to explain it. But sometimes you just have to trust your gut instinct. I don’t like his muslim ties. I worry about his pro-Palestine stance. I worry about his anti- Israeli stance. I don’t like his liberal agenda. I don’t care for his slick presentations. I am bothered by his foreign relatives living in huts while he becomes the most powerful man in the world. I am bothered by his aunt (who attended his swearing in ceremony into the legislature) who now lives in a big city slum. I am bothered by his wife who his campaign kept well hid because she was making too many verbal gaffs. Too many things worry me about this man and his plans for “change”. I have friends who swear up and down that Obama fits the profile for the antichrist. I don’t know if that is true. But if there is a rapture, I wont be writing this blog anymore. I will watching this all play out from somewhere else.

Did I want McCain to win? Yea, sure. But he wasn’t my first choice. When McCain ran the first time, he was not what you would call a conservative republican dream candidate. 4 years later the republican thought he was just conservative enough to pull it off. Even if McCain had won, the true conservatives wouldn’t have been happy, but they would find it tolerable. As for the other republicans that ran, Mit Romney was just as scary to me as Obama so I hope he doesn’t run again in 4 years.

I am so glad that the election is over. I am sick of the public ass kissing that Obama received from the bulk of the media. I feel that America was swayed by the political leanings of their news commentators. Things will soon change for Obama. The media loves to throw rocks at those in power. The honeymoon wont last long. Obama got away with some fairly flimsy excuses and exaggerated promises during the election. Soon the media will have to start doing its job in order to keep readers and viewers interested. Some tough questions will be asked of Obama soon. And soon those who saw Obama as the answer to their housing, economy, and financial woes will be disillusioned with the empty promises and realize that there is no simple answer, and the president’s agenda has little to do with their prosperity.

Oil has already started to spiral down. The economy will inevitably recover. Obama will get some credit for this. But eventually he too will be faced with some tough times for which he, like all presidents, will take the blame. Sure, it was time for some change in our political offices. I just wonder if America has made the right one. I am not happy with the results of this election. But I seldom am. I will survive whatever stupid decisions are made in Washington. I just hope that my country does not suffer for the one that they made.

Electoral College Tie

So there is this election thing going on today…

And it is a tight race.
All arguments about shady practices by either side aside, what happens if it is an extremely close race.
“How close?” you ask.
Well, there are 538 electoral college votes. Although they say that it is not statistically likely to happen (Last look said the likelihood was about 3.2%). There is a chance of the votes being split in the electoral college at 269 to 269.
What happens then?
When we were little and we would have a tie in game it was called "sister kisser". "It is like kissing your sister. It dont count."
Everybody hates a tie. There is no winner. We, as Americans love a winner, and dispise loosing.

So what does happen if there is a tie in the electoral college?

The 12th amendment provides for the procedure.
In the event of a tie, the House of Representatives would vote for a president and the Senate would pick the vice president when Congress reconvenes in January.

What about this scenario:
The newly elected House, seated in January, is unable to muster a majority to choose a president after a 269-269 tie, but the Senate, which is expected to be controlled by Democrats, picks Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. from the Democratic ticket. If the House is still deadlocked at noon on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, Mr. Biden becomes acting president.

OR:
Neither the House nor the Senate fulfills its constitutional duty to select the president and the vice president by Jan. 20, so House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, becomes acting president until the whole mess is sorted out.

OR:
What if an electoral college elector casts a faithless vote (votes for the other guy)?
24 States have laws to punish faithless electors. That means that 26 states do not. This is unlikely because the electors are usually closely related to their party. Unlikely and not probable, but possible.


Things to think about…