General Discussion

Tommy Carcetti

(43,438 posts)

16. I'm not saying a president who loses the popular vote but wins the electoral vote is illegitimate.

Mon Mar 4, 2024, 01:25 PM

Mar 2024

It is, however, a rather glaring asterisk mark where the less popular choice is somehow still deemed the winner.

Even a plurality winner (less than 50%) is still the most popular choice nationwide of all the candidates on the ballot. Lincoln, for example, won with less than 40%.

A popular vote loser who wins solely by the electoral vote is a far more glaring aberration.

That's not to say I would refuse to accept it if Joe Biden were to somehow win the electoral vote but not the popular vote. (If a few votes in Ohio had gone differently, that's what would have happened with John Kerry in 2004). That would be crazy.

But the greater point remains: The electoral college, looked at objectively, is a rather bizarre technicality.

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Trump won the 2016 election on a technicality. [View all] Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 OP

This is really why democracy dies, there has to be a majority of the people behind the President Walleye Mar 2024 #1

Wealthy, land owners with powdered wigs... Omnipresent Mar 2024 #37

Good point. I think it was Will Rogers who said something like Walleye Mar 2024 #52

and slaves. Voltaire2 Mar 2024 #53

Well, it's a constitutional technicality...not just some legal hairsplitting. Nt Fiendish Thingy Mar 2024 #2

Still a technicality. Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #3

Bill Clinton never had a majority win in a presedential election Zeitghost Mar 2024 #11

I'm not saying a president who loses the popular vote but wins the electoral vote is illegitimate. Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #16

I guess it's an interesting political fact Zeitghost Mar 2024 #19

But even a wild card winning the Super Bowl... Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #23

It runs counter to your opinion Zeitghost Mar 2024 #25

Answer to your question: Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #26

Not all States had binding public elections Zeitghost Mar 2024 #27

1992 & 1996, Bill Clinton won popular and electoral college ffr Mar 2024 #31

Yes... Zeitghost Mar 2024 #33

You said: "Bill Clinton never had a majority win in a presedential election" ffr Mar 2024 #48

I think you need to look up what Majority means Zeitghost Mar 2024 #51

You cited Wikipedia. Dr. Strange Mar 2024 #54

Clearly not a good comparison with popular vs electoral vote. triron Mar 2024 #49

Did Hillary get a majority if one counts non voters? Kaleva Mar 2024 #32

No doubt a majority of voters did not want Trump. Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #47

In the end.... Turbineguy Mar 2024 #4

Had Hillary won, it likely would have been a technicality too. All Mixed Up Mar 2024 #5

She would have certainly still had a plurality at the very least. Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #7

Let's hope he doesn't change that in November. All Mixed Up Mar 2024 #15

The horse race pie just came out of the oven. Hugin Mar 2024 #6

Hardly a technicality, it's been the mechanism we've elected Prez for a long time. It is frustrating at times, for sure. Silent Type Mar 2024 #8

When it's a mechanism that would otherwise be declared unconstitional... Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #28

What? MichMan Mar 2024 #30

Reynolds v. Sims, 373 U.S. 533 (1964) Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #34

What other Constutional requirements do you regard to be a technicality? NT mahatmakanejeeves Mar 2024 #9

We purport ourselves to be a democracy (at least a representative democracy.) Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #17

So, the Senate goes too, right? NT mahatmakanejeeves Mar 2024 #22

The Senate has always had problems. Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #24

Isn't that how electors are chosen? * mahatmakanejeeves Mar 2024 #35

Not necessarily. Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #44

This message was self-deleted by its author Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #18

At the time of the founding, the office of president wasn't considered to be important. J_William_Ryan Mar 2024 #10

House gop at the time knew he had russian support. Karadeniz Mar 2024 #12

Every republican president after Ike "won" via malfeasance of one sort or another PSPS Mar 2024 #13

you've diluted the meaning of the phrase 'on a technicality' to basically Voltaire2 Mar 2024 #14

If our country wishes to consider itself a democracy... Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #21

He didn't "win" MorbidButterflyTat Mar 2024 #20

I still believe Russian hackers together with Cambridge analytica triron Mar 2024 #50

Trump won because he prevailed under the process TexasDem69 Mar 2024 #29

You're confusing "winning on a technicality" with "winning illegitimately." Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #39

But you are referring to the sole deciding factor as a "technicality" TexasDem69 Mar 2024 #42

Cambridge Dictionary's definition: Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #45

See this story that just coincidentally popped up on my news feed: Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #46

The Electoral College is not a technicality DavidDvorkin Mar 2024 #36

That "technicality" is the election sarisataka Mar 2024 #38

See Post 39. nt Tommy Carcetti Mar 2024 #41

I agree with post 38 and believe it is 100% correct nt sarisataka Mar 2024 #43

The electoral college needs to go LetMyPeopleVote Mar 2024 #40