While there are a few close states not officially yet called, Trump is on his way to what we called several weeks ago, something close to a 312 – 226 Electoral College vote victory. He’s swept all seven swing states. He made New Hampshire and Virginia competitive, expanding his electoral map and forcing Democrats to spend resources in the race’s waning days. Best of all, he won a resounding popular vote victory, the final numbers of which will come in the days to come.
Read MoreTag: Electoral College
Commentary: Trump Completes Greatest Comeback in Political History
Against all odds, former President Donald Trump was reelected on Nov. 5, ousting Vice President Kamala Harris, winning the popular vote for the GOP for the first time since 2004, decisively winning the Electoral College and reclaiming the U.S. Senate, all as only the second former president to win reelection after Grover Cleveland did it in 1892 with non-consecutive terms in what can only be described as the greatest political comeback in American history.
Trump dodged bullets, prosecutions, convictions, censorship and overcame the historic incumbency advantage — first term incumbent parties usually win about two-thirds of the time, but not this time — able to capitalize on inflation outpacing incomes, wages and earnings for too long during the Biden-Harris administration as Americans paid the price at the grocery store and gas pump, more than 8 million illegal border crossings by illegal aliens who Trump promised to deport and endless foreign wars that threaten to spark a wider conflict or even nuclear war.
Read MoreHispanic Americans Among Key Groups That Helped Reelect Trump as President of the United States
A shift in Hispanic American voters in key swing states helped reelect former Republican President Donald Trump to the White House over his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and that expansion was critical to his victory, according to several reports.
The Democrats spent much of their time building a campaign strategy that depicted the former Republican president as a dangerous threat to democracy while polls repeatedly reported that their key issues were inflation and the escalating cost of living.
Read MoreCommentary: No, the Electoral College Is Not a Relic of Slavery
Since the 2000 presidential election, the left has worked to undermine the legitimacy of the Electoral College, labeling it a relic of slavery. No doubt, if Donald Trump returns to the White House while again losing the popular vote, these attacks will be renewed with fervor. In fact, it has already begun as commentators denounce the undemocratic nature of the system. Just last month, the New York Times published a piece trashing the Constitution and asserting that the Electoral College’s only purpose was to protect slavery. These critiques are based on misconceptions and hostility toward the very structure of our Constitution.
The History
Our method of electing the president came about through compromise. The framers agreed upon a system that ensured the states had a say in choosing the president. The Constitution gives each state a share of electors, and the states decide for themselves how to select those electors.
Read MoreCommentary: The Hidden Vote
Former President Donald Trump is slightly ahead in the polls and, as in 2016 and 2020, he is drawing massive crowds at his rallies. Some knowledgeable observers have even speculated that Trump could be on the verge of a landslide electoral college victory.
But, while our attention is being drawn to the polls, the campaigning, and the strategies of the presidential candidates, what about the taxpayer-funded electoral apparatus that has been created over the past four years by the Biden-Harris regime?
Read MoreCommentary: Kamala Harris Has a Problem on Her Hands Heading into November
When Florida was hit with severe storms and Hurricane Ian in 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris demanded that “communities of color” must be first in line for aid and that assistance should be prioritized “in a way that is about giving resources based on equity.”
She has repeatedly made similar claims, differentiating “equity” from equality, stating that “not everyone starts in the same place.”
Read MoreCommentary: Missouri Set to Sue New York for Election Interference as Trump’s July 11 Sentencing Date Looms
After almost a month following former President Donald Trump’s conviction by a New York City jury on May 30, Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced on June 20 that his state is suing New York for its “direct attack on our democratic process through unconstitutional lawfare against President Trump”.
That’s good — better late than never — as Bailey stands as the first Republican Attorney General to actually announce such a lawsuit, with not much time before Trump’s scheduled sentencing on July 11, which could imprison to presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Read MoreCommentary: A Bill to Ensure Fair Representation for American Citizens
The House of Representatives finally acted Wednesday to remedy an injustice that has been getting worse as the number of illegal aliens coming into the United States has skyrocketed: the distortion caused by including noncitizens when determining how many House members each state gets.
The House passed HR 7109, the Equal Representation Act, to mandate a citizenship question on the census form and use of only the citizen population in the apportionment formula for representation applied after every census.
Read MoreMaine Becomes 17th State to Join Effort to Elect President by Popular Vote
Maine’s Democratic governor Janet Mills announced on Monday that her state will become the latest to join an effort to elect the president through popular vote instead of the electoral college.
A coalition of 16 states and Washington D.C., have agreed to send all of their electoral college votes to the candidate that wins the popular vote nationwide as part of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, according to the Associated Press, but the states will need to control 270 electoral college votes in order to implement the proposal. So far, with Maine, it has 209.
Read MoreNebraska Votes Against Electoral College Reforms in Blow to Trump
The Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday voted against a proposal that would have changed the state’s allocation of presidential electors in the Electoral College, which is a setback for former President Donald Trump’s political interests.
Unlike all U.S. states except for Maine, Nebraska allocates three of its presidential electors based on the majority vote in each of its three congressional districts, while the remaining two electors — accounting for its two U.S. senators — are allocated based on the statewide tally. Republican state Sen. Julie Slama of Lincoln on Wednesday introduced a bill amendment that would change this system to a “winner-take-all” allocation — whereby all electoral votes would go to the candidate who wins statewide, purportedly benefitting the Republican nominee — though the measure failed to advance by a vote of 9 yeas to 36 nays.
Read MoreCommentary: Was It Legal to Appoint Jack Smith in the First Place?
Was Special Counsel Jack Smith illegally appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland and is his prosecution of former Pres. Donald Trump unlawful? That is the intriguing issue raised in an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court by Schaerr Jaffe, LLP, on behalf of former Attorney General Ed Meese and two law professors, Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson, in the case of U.S. v. Trump.
We won’t get an immediate answer to this question because on the Friday before Christmas, the Supreme Court issued a one-line order refusing to take up Smith’s request that the court review Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, which was denied by the trial court, in the federal prosecution being pursued by Smith in the District of Columbia. The special counsel had petitioned the court to take the case on an expedited basis, urging the justices to bypass review by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Read MoreKentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie Warns States Barring Trump: The House of Representatives Decides Whether to Certify Their Electors
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., warned states acting to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot that the House of Representatives will decide whether to certify states’ electors.
Read MoreNew Forecast Says the 2024 Election Will Come Down to These Four States
A new political forecast released Thursday argues that the 2024 general election could come down to four states — Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The four “toss-ups” and their 56 Electoral College votes make for a “very narrow playing field” in 2024, which The Cook Political Report views as being another matchup between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to author Amy Walter. Whether a third-party ticket is present, as well as the sway of suburban, moderate and Latino voters, will be key in determining the outcome of these battleground states.
Read MoreMovement to Decide Presidency by Popular Vote Gains States, Momentum But Also Faces Challenges
The effort to change how the United States elects its presidents – from the existing Electoral College process to a national popular vote – is gaining momentum, but critics are questioning its legality and whether it improves the country’s election system.
Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, with Minnesota being the latest and Michigan and Nevada considering it.
Read MoreAdvocates Warn of ‘Desperate’ Movement to Undermine the Electoral College
An organization’s efforts to circumvent states’ rights are “getting desperate” as they try new ways to push their interstate compact through state legislatures, two pro-Electoral College advocacy groups told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The National Popular Vote (NPV) is a group initiative to reform the U.S.’ two-step, Electoral College system by ensuring that the candidate with the most popular votes nationwide becomes the president. Now that NPV has enacted its interstate compact in all of the “easy,” bluer states as a standalone bill, it is getting creative to force the law through in swing states like Minnesota, Nevada, Michigan and Maine, Trent England of Save Our States and Jasper Hendricks of Democrats for the Electoral College told the DCNF.
Read MoreElection Transparency Initiative Denounces Marc Elias’ Requested Change to Electoral Count Act Reform
A right-leaning election reform outfit on Wednesday denounced the current version of legislation to reform the Electoral Count Act, particularly a provision urged by Democratic election attorney Marc Elias.
The original act was enacted in 1887 to prevent presidential election crises such as that of 1876, during which three states submitted competing groups of electors, forcing Congress to determine how to resolve the count. Ultimately Republican Rutherford B. Hayes emerged victorious over Democrat Samuel Tilden.
Read MoreCommentary: Manchin-Collins Bill Would End the 1887 Electoral Count Act’s Provision of State Legislatures Choosing Presidential Electors
Legislation offered by Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) would repeal Sections 1 and 2 of the 1887 Electoral Count Act, and replace the appointment of electors by state legislatures in the event a state fails to make a choice in that election under current federal law to “the executive of each State”.
3 U.S.C. Section 2 currently states, “Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct.”
Read MoreCommentary: The Cry-Baby Leftist Mind
Modern progressives assume moral and intellectual authority.
Consequently, their supposedly superior ends naturally justify almost any means necessary to achieve them.
Read MoreCommentary: The Left Only Sees Success by Altering the Rules of Governance
Court packing—the attempt to enlarge the size of the Supreme Court for short-term political purposes—used to be a dirty word in the history of American jurisprudence.
The tradition of a nine-person Supreme Court is now 153 years old. The last attempt to expand it for political gain was President Franklin Roosevelt’s failed effort in 1937. FDR’s gambit was so blatantly political that even his overwhelming Democratic majority in Congress rebuffed him.
Read MoreCommentary: In 2022, Voters Must Stand Up to America’s Uniparty Empire
If we follow the conventional political thinking, Republicans can anticipate an electoral shift during the November midterm elections and appear likely to recapture the White House in 2024. A grassroots revolt is already showing signs that the Democrats should expect to be punished for politicizing education and mismanaging COVID policy.
If we follow the conventional thinking even further, this will spell success for a usual cast of Republican-leaning characters in leadership and consulting roles. Karl Rove is likely already updating his fee structure. Veterans of the two Bush Administrations will send their résumés east in hopes of retaining old posts so they can steer contracts and favors back to their allies and former employers.
Right, Left, Right, Left, the hypnotic rhythm drums on—briefly interrupted only by an aberrational Trump Administration or popular uprising—but it all returns to the statists’ status quo in the end. The uniparty simply shifts its weight from its left foot to its right while business proceeds as usual.
Read MoreTrump Blasts Pence’s Claims About January 6: Vice Presidency Not an ‘Automatic Conveyor Belt for Old Crow Mitch McConnell to Get Biden Elected President’
Former President Donald Trump released a blistering attack Friday afternoon on former Vice President Mike Pence’s claims earlier in the day about the January 6, 2021 Joint Session of Congress over which Pence presided at which Electoral College votes submitted by the states were counted.
In a speech before the Florida Chapter of the Federalist Society in Orlando on Friday, Pence asserted, “There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress, I possessed unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes. And I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to ‘overturn the election.’ President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.” (emphasis added)
Read MoreCommentary: The Wall Street Journal’s Shabby Rebuttal of Trump Settles Nothing
President Trump’s October 28 letter to the Wall Street Journal detailing some of his complaints about the 2020 election and the Journal’s editorial comment on it the following day clearly reveal the shortcomings of both sides of this argument. But the important thing to note is that there are two sides to the argument over the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election result.
The prolonged and intensive effort in which the Wall Street Journal has eagerly participated, to suppress and throttle the merest suggestion of illegitimacy surrounding the 2020 election result, has failed. It has always been understandable why there would be a great body of opinion that would wish to suppress any consideration of the question. It is a sobering and demoralizing thing to imagine that the vastly important process of choosing the president of the United States could possibly be an erroneous or even a fraudulent process.
Read MoreREVIEW: Hemingway’s ‘Rigged’ a Bone Chilling Page-Turner About the 2020 Election
We are a year overdue for the true story of the 2020 elections. Mollie Hemingway has at last delivered it to us in one tidy volume.
It’s a complex story, which makes for a weighty book. The research is thorough, the writing is evidentiary, the style is clinical—like investigative journalism and social science used to be. The endnotes alone run nearly 100 pages.
Reading Rigged, one isn’t jarred by hyperbole, conjecture, or spin. Hemingway is unequivocal on progressive malice, yet she can be scathing of Republicans, too. She is particularly critical of Rudy Giuliani’s attempts to publicize fraud nationally, thereby undermining prior case-by-case efforts to get particular state courts to recognize particular violations of particular state laws.
Read MoreCommentary: Ground Zero of Woke
Many of our once revered and most hallowed institutions are failing us. To mention only the most significant ones: our top-ranking military echelon, the leadership of our federal investigatory and intelligence agencies, the government medical establishment—and of course the universities.
For too long American higher education’s reputation of global academic superiority has rested mostly on the sciences, mathematics, physics, technology, medicine, and engineering—in other words, not because of the humanities and social sciences, but despite them. The humanities have become too often anti-humanistic. And the social sciences are deductively anti-scientific. Both quasi-religious woke disciplines have eroded confidence in colleges and universities, infected even the STEM disciplines and professional schools, and torn apart the civic unity of the United States. Indeed, much of the current Jacobin revolution was birthed and fueled by American universities, despite their manifest hypocrisies and derelictions.
Read MoreCommentary: House Republican Leader Supports a Democrat-Backed ‘Popular Vote’ Scheme
In 2011, before serving for the House of Representatives’ 6th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN-06), current chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, was a national spokesperson for the National Popular Vote initiative, legislation that forms a state-to-state compact with other states agreeing to pledge their state’s electors in the Electoral College to the winner of the national popular vote once participating states reach 270 electoral votes.
This would effectively eliminate the current winner-take-all system in the Electoral College, which has been in place since the election of 1824, whereby whoever wins the popular vote in a state wins the state’s electoral votes.
Read MoreGeorgia Democrats Push for Law to Bypass Nation’s Electoral College
Sixteen Democrats in the Georgia State Senate have filed a bill calling on Georgia to enact the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. According to the language of the bill, this agreement calls on states “to join together to establish an interstate compact to elect the president by national popular vote.”
Read More