Superfluous Man
01-29-2017, 04:02 PM
Now this, from the Wall Street Journal, is amusing. President Trump apparently told congressional leaders in a recent White House meeting that he wanted to abolish the Electoral College, but was talked out of it by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:
Trump then told the group [of senior congressional leaders] that he was interested in getting rid of the Electoral College and replacing it with a national popular vote, say people who attended. Mr. Trump lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a fact that has irritated the president to the point that he has called for a national probe of alleged voter fraud.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, spoke up, pointing him to the 2000 recount in Florida that lasted more than a month until it was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. Imagine what a nationwide recount would look like. Mr. Trump demurred, and said he was fine to leave the current system in place.
Never mind that a president would have no role in such a change — amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds congressional majority, plus ratification by three-fourths of the states. What's more interesting is the way Trump really does seem to be acting on impulse. And of course, you have to admire the counterintuitive suggestion of scrapping the current electoral process, after he had lost the national popular vote.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mcconnell-had-to-talk-trump-out-of-trying-to-abolish-the-electoral-college/article/2613201
Trump then told the group [of senior congressional leaders] that he was interested in getting rid of the Electoral College and replacing it with a national popular vote, say people who attended. Mr. Trump lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a fact that has irritated the president to the point that he has called for a national probe of alleged voter fraud.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, spoke up, pointing him to the 2000 recount in Florida that lasted more than a month until it was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. Imagine what a nationwide recount would look like. Mr. Trump demurred, and said he was fine to leave the current system in place.
Never mind that a president would have no role in such a change — amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds congressional majority, plus ratification by three-fourths of the states. What's more interesting is the way Trump really does seem to be acting on impulse. And of course, you have to admire the counterintuitive suggestion of scrapping the current electoral process, after he had lost the national popular vote.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mcconnell-had-to-talk-trump-out-of-trying-to-abolish-the-electoral-college/article/2613201