Donald Trump isn’t yet president, and the Hamilton Electors have one shot to make sure he never is
With just days to go until the real election of 2016 — the Electoral College — the rogue faction known as the Hamilton Electors is making one last-ditch effort to save America from Donald Trump by denying him the 270 votes he’ll need to be officially named president.
But can the Hamilton Electors convince enough of their fellows in the Electoral College to view Gov. John Kasich of Ohio as our era’s George Washington?
Their leaders, who named their group after Federalist Paper No. 68, say it’s still possible that they’ll succeed.
First, though, a word about the rules of the game: In theory, the 306 electors committed to Trump and the 232 electors committed to Hillary Clinton are allowed to disregard the voters of their states, denying any candidate the 270-vote minimum needed to win the presidency, and force the election to be decided by the House of Representatives. This has already happened twice — in 1800, when they averted an Aaron Burr presidency; and 1824, when they stopped Andrew Jackson from becoming president, although in that case only by delaying it for four years.
The Hamilton Electors — they’re led by Democrats — need to convince at least 37 Republican electors to abandon Trump.
“My personal goal is a little more lofty than 37,” Michael Baca, a Colorado elector, told Salon. “Because I don’t necessarily want it to just get sent to the House, where there’s a chance they could choose Donald Trump or choose a different Republican. My whole message regarding the Hamilton Electors has been unification of Americans. And so again, ideally, I’d like 135 Democrats and 135 Republicans to avoid the House altogether. Now that’s quite a lofty goal, but that’s what we’re aiming for. If we fall short, I do believe that we’ll still be able to weigh in on 37.”
“We haven’t landed on any individual candidate yet,” says fellow Hamilton leader Bret Chiafalo……. http://ift.tt/2hsEmp8
