It's Too Late For McCain To Drop Palin

[berni_mccoy]

I'm pretty sure most ballot deadlines have past. Even if McCain wanted to drop Palin, I'm fairly certain he can't at this point. The GOP would have to tell voters to vote a write-in candidate on most states ballots.

[Catch22Dem]

1. He can, but it would be political suicide...

To go along with the political suicide he committed when he picked her.

[jkshaw]

2. But he seems to be so much into suicide.

I kind of wish he'd try it.

[jkshaw]

7. Sheesh, I mean POLITICAL suicide here.

[Greg K]

3. I don't know, you aren't really voting for President/Vice President anyway, but for electors.

It might cause some legal challenges in some states though.


Moot point, though - he's not gonna dump her.

[Botany]

4. He picked her to be "his date for the big dance"

So have fun Sen. John

[autorank]

5. It's not too late for McCain to have to drop Palin

That's why this is a very interesting post. Let's say that they find she's flat out guilty of any
of the major charges against her, no doubt about it. He'd have to get her off the ticket.

I'll look forward to the answers to this thread. Each state has code on this.

Wouldn't that be interesting - she has to go but can't. The human albatross.

[DiamondKrosse]

6. why would he?

She is the buzz and reason he's politically alive right now. She is why the debate will get huge ratings come Thursday, which could help shape the course of the rest of the race.

[blonndee]

9. Odds on the "course of the rest of the race" after the VPdebate?

[jkshaw]

11. Good grief, Diamond,

I couldn't bring myself to look at that train wreck. It would be too painful, even for the pleasure of seeing and hearing Joe Biden.

[spindrifter]

8. Well, what would happen if their electoral college

people decided that they couldn't in good conscience vote for a McCain-Palin combo and withheld their votes or voted for someone else?

[SheilaT]

18. It has happened on rare occasion.

Electors who don't vote for the slate they're pledged to are called "unfaithful electors". But generally those chosen to be the electors are the true party faithful, so it doesn't happen that often. And never in the kind of numbers needed to throw an election. But it would be very interesting if that were to happen.

[Clio the Leo]

10. Just out of curiosity....

.... what would happen if one of the candidates passed away? How would that effect the previously submitted write in votes?

Note: This is a hypothetical question, I am in NO way wishing ill for ANYONE. Just curious.

[berni_mccoy]

13. When this has happened in the past for other seats (Senate, House), the party pushes a Write-In

Or they file a petition with the state to change the candidate. Sometimes that works, but sometimes it doesn't. In the end, the candidate most likely loses (but there was one election where a dead guy won).

[Clio the Leo]

14. but how does that effect the write in votes that have already been submitted...

.... do those others get a do-over?

[Retrograde]

12. the party just has to tell the electors who to vote for

Although it's tradition, the electors - who really pick the pres/vp - don't have to go according to what's on the ballot. They can decide to go for McCain/Someone with a lick of sense, or Palin/McCain, or whatever they want, as long as one of the ticket is not from their state. But I'm not really holding my breath.

Of course, if they do go against popular vote we may see a voter revolt and get the electoral college abolished once and for all, which would also be a good thing, speaking as a resident of a large state.

[ShadowLiberal]

15. But people have voted for one person when another person is on the ballot before

It's happened before that a person either dies before the election, or has to resign and drop out in disgrace before the election, when it's too late to get their name off the ballot. Mark Foley is the most recent example of this.

[sunnybrook]

16. it happened here in Missouri

When our Governor was in a helicopter crash (running for Senate) against John Ashcroft, 2000 I think. Anyway, it was right before the election and alot was made of the fact that a "dead guy" beat Ashcroft, but it was openly known that his widow would be appointed in his place. People got bumper stickers and buttons that said "Still with Mel" (Carnahan) and he won the election. Missourians were outraged when Ashcroft was appointed atty general after that! I especially was because of his praise for Jefferson Davis, but I digress... so the elections still go on

[Blackhatjack]

17. You are indeed voting for the McCain ticket, you cannot split your vote for VPs...

Ever since the law was changed which provided for the Pres/VP to run as a team( and eliminated the possibility of having a Pres and VP elected from opposing parties) it has provided the possibility that the VP choice could withdraw and the election could go on.

I am not 100% sure of the process, but I suspect it would follow that which would apply in the event the VP Choice died only days or hours before the election. In this event, the winning Presidential candidate would choose another running mate as the leader of his political party.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. McPalin tried to bump the VP debate entirely off the calendar by postponing last Friday Pres debate.

[Imagevision]

20. However, Palin could use the health of the newborn as an out...

[OmahaBlueDog]

21. Why would he want to drop her?

Seriously?!

Yes, she sounds terrible in the Gibson and Couric interviews, and she has become fodder for SNL.

However, she still fires up their base. Go to Freeperland and see. They love her. The interviews? Heck, that was the liberal media playing gotcha! The debates? They'll tell you she'll clean Biden's clock. SNL? They'll tell you Tina Fey is nothing more than a liberal (fill in misogynistic term here).

She draws big crowds. She raises lots of money. The GOP indicates that volunteerism shot through the roof when she came on the ticket.

People make too much of the "she was brought in to draw embittered PUMAS" thing. She was brought in for one reason -- she fires up the wedge-issue/values voter GOP base in a way that no other republican could have -- certainly in a way that McSame couldn't pull off. Fundies hate Romney and Rudy. Pawlenty was a giant yawn. Newt creates the mirror image of polarization problems that Hillary creates. Fred would have made it the old-and-older ticket. Palin brought youth,and and a simplistic, unintellectual love of God, Guns, and the Homeland that is like catnip for this generation of conservatives.

In the minds of the 35-40% of the electorate that are hard core conservatives, she can't lose the VP debate. Let's say the debate goes like the Couric and Gibson interviews. The liberal media will simply be taken to task by conservatives ("Let's have Hannity moderate the next debate, and we'll see Sarah shine and see Biden crawl!). However, if she somehow pulls off a competent performance, it will be seen by conservatives as a turning point, and her performance will be compared to that of (cue heavenly strings and choir) the beloved Ronald Reagan.

[davepc]

22. the electors can vote for whomever they please.

alps the R party has to do is give marching orders to their electors in the college