Would The Democrats Dare?

[Lincoln Republican]

Would never happen, impossible, I know, but, what if

In 2008

Senator John McCain or Arizona is the Republican Presidential nominee and he picks Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina for Vice President to help shore up the Republican base.  (This ticket is not so far fetched actually)

Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio is the Democratic Presidential nominee and he picks fellow peace advocate former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska for Vice President.  (This ticket reguires a real stretch of the imagination)

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg runs as an independent and Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska agrees to be his running mate. 

The election turns out as follows

Republican, McCain/Sanford                     269 EV  50.1% PV
Independent, Bloomberg/Hagel               250 EV  38.7% PV
Democratic, Kucinich/Gravel                        19 EV  11.2% PV

Question

Given these results, with Republicans McCain and Sanford winning a majority of the popular vote and falling just 1 electoral vote short of an outright win in the Electoral College, and the election turning out to be an unmitigatged disaster for the Democrats, does the Democratically controlled House of Representatives dare to elect Kucinich to the Presidency?

What would the Democratically controlled House do in this case about the Presidency?

Further, what would the Democratically controlled Senate do in this case about the Vice Presidency?

[CultureKing]

I think they would go for a compromise and elect Bloomberg or another democrat that didn't even run.

[HappyWarrior]

Bloomburg wins, its that simple.  We won't give someone who had no real reason to be given the white house the election *coughBushcoughHayescoughcough*  Simply put most Kucinich voters would have rather had Bloomburg than McCain, therefore the Kucincich EC votes go to him, and the Congress picks between the two.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Bloomberg would win.  If the Democrats ever dared to do that, I would bolt the party and become an Independent.

[Lincoln Republican]

I think they would go for a compromise and elect Bloomberg or another democrat that didn't even run.

If there is no electoral majority, the House elects the President from the 3 candidates who received the most electoral votes.  They have no other choices.  They do not have the option of bringing in another candidate of their choosing. 

[Lincoln Republican]

Bloomburg wins, its that simple.  We won't give someone who had no real reason to be given the white house the election *coughBushcoughHayescoughcough*  Simply put most Kucinich voters would have rather had Bloomburg than McCain, therefore the Kucincich EC votes go to him, and the Congress picks between the two.

In your scenario Bloomberg wins regardless, as there is no way a Democratic House would elect a Republican President.  Your scenario assumes that the Kucinich electors cast their electoral votes for Bloomberg.

But in my scenario, McCain wins 269 EV, Bloomberg wins 250 EV, and Kucinich wins 19 EV from the Electoral College electors, therefore the House would choose from McCain, Bloomberg, and Kucinich.

[CultureKing]

Bloomburg wins, its that simple.  We won't give someone who had no real reason to be given the white house the election *coughBushcoughHayescoughcough*  Simply put most Kucinich voters would have rather had Bloomburg than McCain, therefore the Kucincich EC votes go to him, and the Congress picks between the two.

In your scenario Bloomberg wins regardless, as there is no way a Democratic House would elect a Republican President.  Your scenario assumes that the Kucinich electors cast their electoral votes for Bloomberg.

But in my scenario, McCain wins 269 EV, Bloomberg wins 250 EV, and Kucinich wins 19 EV from the Electoral College electors, therefore the House would choose from McCain, Bloomberg, and Kucinich.

yeah, he is saying that the democrats in the house would go for Bloomberg because they want to keep their jobs.

[Stranger in a strange land]

I think they would go for a compromise and elect Bloomberg or another democrat that didn't even run.

If there is no electoral majority, the House elects the President from the 3 candidates who received the most electoral votes.  They have no other choices.  They do not have the option of bringing in another candidate of their choosing. 

that being the case, then yes Bloomberg would win.

[minionofmidas]

I think they would go for a compromise and elect Bloomberg or another democrat that didn't even run.

If there is no electoral majority, the House elects the President from the 3 candidates who received the most electoral votes.  They have no other choices.  They do not have the option of bringing in another candidate of their choosing. 

The Electors have the right to vote for someone other than Kucinich. The House has no other choice, but the Electors are not bound by the popular vote in any way.

[Lincoln Republican]

I think they would go for a compromise and elect Bloomberg or another democrat that didn't even run.

If there is no electoral majority, the House elects the President from the 3 candidates who received the most electoral votes.  They have no other choices.  They do not have the option of bringing in another candidate of their choosing. 

The Electors have the right to vote for someone other than Kucinich. The House has no other choice, but the Electors are not bound by the popular vote in any way.

Yes, I know that, but my scenario assumes that the electors voted the way their states voters did.

[minionofmidas]

If the electors did, that is because the Democratic party has decided Kucinich will be President. If none were faithless, that is because two days after the election, the whole country has woken up to the fact that they actually would prefer Kucinich for President and miscast their votes in a daze.

[Meeker]

This would destroy Democrats down the ballot. It'd be highly unlikely that they'd retain control of the House. At the very least they'd likely lose several seats (or seats would change just because that's what happens in elections) which may modify the majority in state delegations.

However, assuming the House remains exactly the same, I suspect the Democrats in the Bloomberg states would vote for Bloomberg. Not sure about RI and MA, but don't the Democrats only have 26 delegations or something very slim like that? If those delegations voted for Kucinich, we'd have deadlock. However I suspect they'd eventually switch to Bloomberg.


Hagel would easily win the Senate.

[pbrower2a]

Would never happen, impossible, I know, but, what if

In 2008

Senator John McCain or Arizona is the Republican Presidential nominee and he picks Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina for Vice President to help shore up the Republican base.  (This ticket is not so far fetched actually)

Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio is the Democratic Presidential nominee and he picks fellow peace advocate former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska for Vice President.  (This ticket reguires a real stretch of the imagination)

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg runs as an independent and Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska agrees to be his running mate. 

The election turns out as follows

Republican, McCain/Sanford                     269 EV  50.1% PV
Independent, Bloomberg/Hagel               250 EV  38.7% PV
Democratic, Kucinich/Gravel                        19 EV  11.2% PV

Question

Given these results, with Republicans McCain and Sanford winning a majority of the popular vote and falling just 1 electoral vote short of an outright win in the Electoral College, and the election turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the Democrats, does the Democratically controlled House of Representatives dare to elect Kucinich to the Presidency?

What would the Democratically controlled House do in this case about the Presidency?

Further, what would the Democratically controlled Senate do in this case about the Vice Presidency?

McCain wins because more than 25 of the States voted for him. The Senate probably votes for Hagel.

[Psychic Octopus]

No Florida for Bloomberg? New Yorkers and Jews? I think they would vote for Bloomie.

[Lincoln Republican]

Would never happen, impossible, I know, but, what if

In 2008

Senator John McCain or Arizona is the Republican Presidential nominee and he picks Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina for Vice President to help shore up the Republican base.  (This ticket is not so far fetched actually)

Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio is the Democratic Presidential nominee and he picks fellow peace advocate former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska for Vice President.  (This ticket reguires a real stretch of the imagination)

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg runs as an independent and Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska agrees to be his running mate. 

The election turns out as follows

Republican, McCain/Sanford                     269 EV  50.1% PV
Independent, Bloomberg/Hagel               250 EV  38.7% PV
Democratic, Kucinich/Gravel                        19 EV  11.2% PV

Question

Given these results, with Republicans McCain and Sanford winning a majority of the popular vote and falling just 1 electoral vote short of an outright win in the Electoral College, and the election turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the Democrats, does the Democratically controlled House of Representatives dare to elect Kucinich to the Presidency?

What would the Democratically controlled House do in this case about the Presidency?

Further, what would the Democratically controlled Senate do in this case about the Vice Presidency?

McCain wins because more than 25 of the States voted for him. The Senate probably votes for Hagel.

It doesn't matter how many states vote for a candidate, what matters is how many electoral votes a candidate wins.

[pbrower2a]

Would never happen, impossible, I know, but, what if

In 2008

Senator John McCain or Arizona is the Republican Presidential nominee and he picks Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina for Vice President to help shore up the Republican base.  (This ticket is not so far fetched actually)

Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio is the Democratic Presidential nominee and he picks fellow peace advocate former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska for Vice President.  (This ticket reguires a real stretch of the imagination)

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg runs as an independent and Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska agrees to be his running mate. 

The election turns out as follows

Republican, McCain/Sanford                     269 EV  50.1% PV
Independent, Bloomberg/Hagel               250 EV  38.7% PV
Democratic, Kucinich/Gravel                        19 EV  11.2% PV

Question

Given these results, with Republicans McCain and Sanford winning a majority of the popular vote and falling just 1 electoral vote short of an outright win in the Electoral College, and the election turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the Democrats, does the Democratically controlled House of Representatives dare to elect Kucinich to the Presidency?

What would the Democratically controlled House do in this case about the Presidency?

Further, what would the Democratically controlled Senate do in this case about the Vice Presidency?

McCain wins because more than 25 of the States voted for him. The Senate probably votes for Hagel.

It doesn't matter how many states vote for a candidate, what matters is how many electoral votes a candidate wins.

In the event that the count of electoral votes of the several candidates leaves nobody with a majority, then each State delegation has one vote with which to vote for the President. I predict that States with Democratic majorities of Congressional delegations would vote for the candidate who won their state, and that those with Republican majorities would vote for the Republican. I assume the same delegations as with the current Congress (for example, Michigan and Ohio would have majority-Democratic delegations instead of majority-Republican delegations as before January 2009.

D.C. apparently does not count in that scenario.

Likely vote: McCain 27, Bloomberg 22, Kucinich 1... and Democrats hope for a better result in 2012 after what they see as a one-term Presidency for John McCain. 

If D.C. does count, then little changes: McCain 27, Bloomberg 22, Kucinich 2.

I hope that that is a better explanation.