Can anyone doubt Donald J. Trump may well become our first Independent POTUS? Conservatives disdain him and all that he stands for, and Progressives of all stripes deplore him and the basket of his supporters. The establishment disavows him. So who will elect him?
· The Blue Dog Coalition—represents conservative Democrats who have tired of identity politics, empty promises to working people, destruction of their mores, and the rampant corruption amongst top Dems.
· Mainstream Republicans—are all over the map in their beliefs about religion, sexual identity, abortion, gun rights, and immigration, but they are fed up with the take-no-prisoners approach by extremists in their party. Despite putdowns to the contrary, they cross social, wealth, and educational boundaries.
· Indies—comprise the big chunk smack in the middle who, like ordinary Republicans, eschew the extreme positions, are willing to compromise, even on sensitive and personal issues, but want something done about immigration and the gaps in job opportunities, education, and wealth. Indies hate corruption more than bad social behavior.
These groups are angry about the banana republic culture of progressive Democrats. They know that for all his personal foibles, Donald Trump is right: the system is rigged against an outlier. That’s not to suggest there’s a group of elites arranging things to their liking with a few string-pulls. It’s the system of two major party establishments encrusted with the principles of their in-house philosophical tyrants. It’s a society in which progressives infest our educational system, Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and the grossly mis-named mainstream media crowd. It’s a federal government no longer a traffic cop protecting our rights, but rather, but another tool corrupted for the progressive political agenda. Trump’s constituencies know that anyone running outside permitted boundaries has had no chance of success.
Until now. Until Donald J. Trump. He’s the outlier. The underdog tired of being kicked around. Despite myriad splinters this particular example of presidential timber, Trump has beat all the odds, and from this vantage point of over a week out, November 8 looks to be more than a squeaker in his favor.
Unless, of course, the election itself is stolen by Democrats so desperate to keep hidden their secrets. Is it possible to commit vote fraud? Most definitely. It’s not about people registered in both Ohio and Florida, whole cemeteries or ex-residents of state pens going to the polls. That has happened and will happen again, but unless there’s a massive number of people moving a massive amount of votes in exactly the right locales, the national election should remain relatively immune from such shenanigans. Also, defective voting machines have always been with us, so it’s up to each citizen to pay close attention to what happens before pulling the lever. What they can’t see, however, is the invisible third party electronically camped between county election offices and their respective state capitols flipping votes a few thousand here and there. If THAT happens, we will not keep the republic Ben Franklin and the Founders gave us. For this discussion, however, let’s hope that’s not the case.
If Hillary Clinton is “elected,” her administration will be dogged by journalistic and other investigators digging deeper into the pile of political offal that represents the mass of Clinton pay-to-play activities. And if the FBI “gets religion” this time around, that cancer will not be curable.
If Trump, surviving every barrage, pushes through to electoral victory, November 8th is one hurdle, but there remain others before Inauguration Day. If possible—despite Hillary’s oh-so-pious promises to the contrary—progressives will challenge the vote everywhere they can. Assuming those challenges come to naught, the next hurdle is the vote by the Electoral College itself.
Currently, there are 538 electors (for 435 representatives, 100 senators, and three allotted to Washington, DC). Except for Maine and Nebraska, which awards its electoral votes by congressional district, the other forty-eight are winner-take-all. Electors are usually chosen by each political party, and most often, they are true to the pledge they have given. Yet, in this year of all years, when Trump is not a Republican’s Republican, and Democrats will not be shy about dirty tricks, it’s the issue of faithfulness that matters. Only 24 states have laws to punish faithless electors—those who cast a vote for other than the person to whom they are pledged, so the potential for faithless electors in the other 26 states and DC is greater than ever before.
Faithless electors aside, they will meet in their respective state capitals on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December—this year, December 19th, and ordinarily, the process should be little more than a formality required by the Constitution.
Then, there’s the Twelfth Amendment requiring Congress to convene in joint session on January 6, 2017. There, the newly installed House of Representatives declares the winner of the election. The kicker is that if one member of each house, in writing, objects to the vote count of a state, the entire assemblage, after separate debate in their respective chambers, decides whether to accept or reject the objection. It’s easy to imagine, how in this particular election, the process might be manipulated by a Bernie Sanders or an Elizabeth Warren.
Trump’s last hurdle will be to disabuse the fears of many Americans so heavily stoked by those arrayed against him, and then bring together all but die-hard progressives in rebuilding America as the last best hope of humanity on this planet. It’s a daunting task, but Donald Trump is the only candidate with the political cojones to get it done.
So, let’s get ‘er done!