President Obama, VP Palin - Electoral 269 Tie Nightmare?

[RamboLiberal]

Ok, so it's the Moonie Times - but the scenario is possible, and I could see Lieberman and Cheney sticking us with it. Of course maybe we could get Hagel to vote against it. Well too early to worry about thankfully.

On Nov. 5, the presidential election winds up in a electoral-college tie, 269-269, the Democrat-controlled House picks Sen. Barack Obama as president, but the Senate, with former Democrat Joe Lieberman voting with Republicans, deadlocks at 50-50, so Vice President Dick Cheney steps in to break the tie to make Republican Sarah Palin his successor.

"Wow," said longtime presidential historian Stephen Hess. "Wow, that would be amazing, wouldn't it?"

"If this scenario ever happened, it would be like a scene from the movie 'Scream' for Democrats," said Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh. "The only thing worse for the Democrats than losing the White House, again, when it had the best chance to win in a generation, but to do so at the hands of Cheney and Lieberman. That would be cruel."

Sound impossible? It's not. There are at least a half-dozen plausible ways the election can end in a tie, and at least one very plausible possibility - giving each candidate the states in which they now lead in the polls, only New Hampshire - which went Republican in 2000 and Democratic in 2004, each time by just 1.5 percent - needs to swap to the Republican column to wind up with a 269-269 tie.

http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/23/an-electoral-college-doomsday/

[WI_DEM]

1. it's not likely to happen.

[trueblue2007]

27. Scenario::: CHENEY WOULD HAVE A HEART ATTACK......

Someone else would have to cast a vote. What would happen then??

Hey, it COULD happen.

[Crowman1979]

2. Yeah right!

It's going to be a landslide for Obama! Besides, most of these polls are done via the print media, which the youth, and the older hip crowd no longer subscribe to.

[ginnyinWI]

3. Obama stands at 312 EV's today...

at http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

[scheming daemons]

4. The senate will have at least 55 Dems by then..... won't happen

[GarbagemanLB]

8. Pretty sure it would be the current senate voting.

[scheming daemons]

13. I thought the electoral college meets AFTER January 3rd..... no?

[yellowdogintexas]

21. see my post below nt

[southpaw]

5. I thought and electoral tie was resolved in the House

I guess I should read the article, huh?

[billyoc]

6. Let her sulk in the Naval Observatory. She wouldn't be able to do shit.

Obama isn't Bush.

[SoonerPride]

7. Then his first official act is to have her arrested.

End of problem.

[cali]

12. for what?

how about just asking for her resignation and if she refuses, simply relegating her to the most mundane and humiliating chores.

[SoonerPride]

14. She is a criminal.

She is a Republican.

[cali]

16. how utterly stupid. I mean majorly stupid.

sorry, but you sound just like the freepers

[terrya]

9. Hardly. This isn't 1800.

Both the President and Vice President will be the same political party.

[Orangepeel]

10. The electors are picked in Nov. They vote in Dec. Their votes are officially counted in January.

We will know who won the election in November (well, Supreme Court notwithstanding), but the electoral votes are not officially counted until after the new Senate is in session.

[RamboLiberal]

23. New congress isn't sworn in till January - correct?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

11. Silliness. The Democratic Senate will not select Palin as VP.

The VP selection is by individual senators, not state delegations.

[WeDidIt]

15. The Republicans would ahve to take back the Senate

That ain't gonna happen.

The Moonie Times fails to mention, it will NOT be the 110th Congress that votes on this. It would be the 111th.

[terrya]

17. Exactly. And since the Democrats should have at least 57 seats...

in the 111th Congress, that scenario is HIGHLY unlikely.

[RamboLiberal]

24. Self-Delete

Reading the article it gets too complicated - here's hoping we're not out here arguing this one.

[nsd]

28. No, it's the new Congress, which takes office Jan. 6, that votes.

The first item of business on the incoming congressional schedule is to count the electoral votes. It's only then that the votes become official. After finding that it's a tie, the new House and Senate get down to breaking it.

link

[jbonkowski]

18. They are ignoring Hagel

Chuck Hagel has already gone on the record in an op-ed that Palin is not qualified. Chances are at least a few other Republican senators agree.

Besides that, we are talking about the US Senate choosing between a big unknown and one of their own, Biden. The Senate is very "clubby" and would always side with their own, at least enough of them. Remember how even Obama campaigned for Lieberman in 2006? That's how much they support each other.

Finally, a Republican who helps Biden get into the White House can call in the favor later and get something. Having Sarah Palin owe you a favor in an Obama administration will be less than useless.

jim

[Jennicut]

26. Hagel won't be around by then but he is a good friend of Biden's.

He is retiring and the newly elected Senators are the ones who cast votes in December.

[Jennicut]

19. Per wikipedia electors for each state (except Maine and NE) are elected on Nov. 4th

"Electors chosen on Election Day meet in their respective state capitals (or in the case of Washington, D.C., within the District) on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, at which time they cast their electoral votes on separate ballots for President and Vice President."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Electoral_College

Since we most likely might win another senate seat or more we would be fine. No way no how is the senate dems gonna vote Palin in if Obama is already president. Loserman would be irrelevant.

[yellowdogintexas]

20. House elects a President , each state delegation has one vote

and this is how it works:

The slate is wiped clean, so to speak, and the individual states caucus to determine how their one vote will be cast. Like Papal elections, this could take some time. They have until March 4. This is where the smaller states get the power folks. If a small state went R for pres but has a Democrat heavy congressional delegation, we stand to gain.

OH and this is the newly elected Congress, not the currently seated one if I am reading this correctly.

Meanwhile, the new Senate is electing the VP...I seriously doubt it would be Caribou Barbie.

House Selects the New President
As directed by the 12th Amendment, the 435 -- many of them brand new -- members of the House of Representatives would find as their first official duty the selection of the next President of the United States. "Welcome to Congress!"

Unlike the Electoral College system, where larger population equals more votes, each state in the House gets exactly one (1) vote when selecting the president. Even California, with its 53 Representatives, get one vote. The first candidate to win the votes of any 26 states is the new president. The 12th Amendment gives the House until the fourth day of March to select a president. Should the House fail to meet the deadline, well, more on that later.

It is up to the group, or "delegation" of representatives from each state to decide among themselves how their state will cast its one and only vote. Suddenly, smaller states like Wyoming, Montana and Vermont, with only one representative wield as much power as California or New York.

Senate Selects the New Vice President
As the House is selecting the new president, the Senate is busy selecting the new vice-president. In the Senate, each of the 100 Senators gets one vote, with a simple majority -- 51 -- Senators required to select the vice-president. Unlike it does on the House, the 12th Amendment places no time limit on the Senate's selection of a vice president.

Also See:
The Electoral College System
Who ARE the Electors?
Mistakes While Voting?

[Window]

22. I'm claiming NOTHING negative.

[budkin]

25. No way in hell

[BzaDem]

29. Very unlikely; it is the NEW Senate that votes. We are going to have more than 51 seats.

[dansolo]

30. I'm not sure Lieberman would vote for Palin without McCain

He puts up with Palin, but McCain is his true love. If McCain's not in, I find it unlikely that he would vote for Palin just to spite the Democrats.

[Bucky]

31. You had me at "Ok, so it's the Moonie Times." By Jan 3rd, the Senate will have >50 Democrats

Article says "Absurd? Possibly, and there is not complete agreement among constitutional experts on whether a newly elected Congress or the currently sitting House and Senate would make the decision."

By "not complete agreement" the writer means "I didn't do my homework". Electors meet in their state capitals in the 2nd week in December, then send certified results to Dick Cheney. They always meet in January to certify. If the Republicans tried any shenanigans like meeting before the new Congress meets, the Dems have only to not show up (they rarely meet over the Christmas holidays any way) until the January 3rd convening date for the next Congress.