Monday, November 01, 2004

President Bush and Vice-President Edwards?

Thanks to One Hand Clapping for directing us to the following post in U.S. News and World Report. Link. The report tells us what could happen if the electoral college Presidential vote ends up tied...

Under the Constitution, if no candidate gets an absolute majority of the electors, the president is elected by the House, with each state's delegation getting one vote. Currently, Republicans control 30 state delegations in the House, Democrats 16, and 4 are tied. That means that if today's House were voting and George W. Bush and John Kerry each had 269 electoral votes, Bush would be elected. But it is the House to be elected November 2 that votes. Will the Republicans still have a majority of state delegations in the House?

The answer is almost certainly yes....My prognosis: Republicans are very unlikely to lose more than two delegations. That would leave them with 28 delegations, a solid win for Bush.

One more thing. If the electoral vote is 269-269, the vice president is elected by the Senate that assembles on January 3. If Democrats have a majority, they will elect John Edwards. If Republicans have a majority, or 50 senators plus Dick Cheney as the incumbent vice president, they will elect Dick Cheney.

Wow, is this ever a call to play well with others? The possibility exists for a Bush/Edwards White House. Incredible!

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