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Electoral doomsday tie? One can only hope
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Every four years, Americans slog to the polls – in embarrassingly low numbers – and elect someone (who wouldn’t normally be pegged to run a lemonade stand) as leader of the free world.
In layman’s terms, choosing a president in 2008 has been reduced to an exercise that can only be described as picking up a turd by the ‘good’ end.
But there could be a silver lining this November 4, even if it outlines a cloud of chaos.
The Washington Times dug up a few presidential historians with (surprise!) a little extra time on their hands, and the stalwarts of academia concocted a few scenarios that are filled with horror – or hope, depending on your point of view – for the upcoming election.
One such scenario suggests a 269 – 269 electoral vote tie, whereas the democrat-controlled house picks Obama as president and the senate – with Joe Lieberman voting with Republicans – elects Sarah Palin as vice president. The Lieberman vote would create another tie (50 to 50 among senators), with current VP Dick Cheney ending the stalemate.
Another illustrates the potential for Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado voting democrat and New Hampshire going republican. Again, you end up with the 269 – 269 tie.
The Times article goes on to describe at least a half-dozen plausible possibilities for such a tie, and one synopsis that has a very good chance of coming to fruition.
If you concede the states to the candidate who is currently leading in the polls, only New Hampshire (which voted for Bush in 2000 and Kerry in 2004) would have to move to the republican column for the election to be deadlocked at 269.
There have been ten elections in our history that held the potential for a tie, but the probability of such an occurrence is only 1.5 percent.
However, it took 36 ballots to break the deadlock in the 1800 election; the one that elevated Thomas Jefferson to the highest office. And that worked out so well that elected VP Aaron Burr shot former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton (a Jefferson supporter) to death.
That’ll make you re-think those yard signs, huh?
Of course, some already feel we’re facing a doomsday scenario given our top of the ticket choices this year. Maybe we can drag this out for three years or so – or at least until we can find someone (anyone) who really is presidential material.
And you thought hanging chads were riveting.
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