Election 2012: The nightmare scenarios
The election result nobody wants is looking more likely by the day.
The election result nobody wants is looking more likely by the day, said David Jackson in USA Today. As it stands now, Mitt Romney and President Obama are locked in a virtual tie at 47 percent each, according to the RealClearPolitics.com poll of polls. But Obama still has a narrow lead in several crucial swing states—including New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Ohio—giving him a better chance of assembling the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. If that split holds until Election Day, Romney could win the popular vote but lose the Electoral College, and the presidency, to Obama. “Please, whatever happens Nov. 6, not that,” said Jay Bookman in AJC.com. It was bad enough in 2000, when the Supreme Court had to decide the election in Bush v. Gore. But America is now an even more partisan and divided nation, with momentous budgetary, tax, and foreign-policy decisions to make. “We need a clear-cut winner in the White House, not somebody installed there thanks to a quirky Electoral College.”
Actually, we could be in for something even worse than a repeat of 2000, said Eliot Spitzer in Slate.com. If the vote is very close, it’s entirely possible that the Electoral College tally will be tied, with Obama and Romney each getting 269 votes. “If that happens, America would get a complicated, tension-filled lesson in the Constitution.” The House of Representatives would vote to determine who wins, with the states getting just one vote apiece. So New York’s 29 members would get one vote, the same as North Dakota’s single congressman. That would mean a Romney win, as “the little-populated red states outnumber the highly populated blue states.” The constitutional craziness doesn’t end there, said Philip Klein in WashingtonExaminer.com. In the event of an Electoral College tie, the Senate gets to pick the vice president. That means if Democrats hold on to their Senate majority, Joe Biden would be Romney’s vice president. How’s that for fun?
Only one good result could come from another electoral disaster, said Garrett Epps in TheAtlantic.com. Americans might finally “fix our electoral system so this won’t happen over and over.” Abolishing the Electoral College, and ushering in a true democracy, is the only logical response. Sadly, small states will object to any change that would diminish their outsized power. So election reform “is likely to remain a dream, even if Election Day 2012 turns into a nightmare.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The Week contest: Undressed wedding
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'Why would anyone look to the United States as a model?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Kristi Noem and the politics of puppy killing
Talking Point Revelations in Republican's upcoming memoir may have doomed her political career
By The Week UK Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published