Turmoil
The Democratic National Committee clearly chose to “anoint” Hillary as their nominee and believed she would cruise to an easy victory in November. It is now obvious that they were completely unaware of the ”anger” in America today (the Republican party leadership made the same mistake). See my post, “The Quiet Revolution”
When you take a closer look at what is happening in the primaries for both parties it is clear that neither one can expect to have a “:happy” convention or a candidate who has an “open road” to the general election. Even with Trump appearing to be the Republican nominee on the first ballot (as of 5/03), I still think it is not going to be a “happy” convention. There are just too many “never Trump” people.
Bernie Sanders will stay in the race until the convention and may actually keep Hillary from earning the nomination before the convention. He won all three of the recent primaries (by almost 80 percent in one). On Tuesday, April 5 he also won Wisconsin. He is raising substantially more money than Hillary without doing any fundraisers or taking Super Pac money and has a much lower “burn rate” (he is spending less money than she is). This means that he will have more to spend on advertising as we get closer to the convention and she will have to spend more time fund raising.
Update – Sanders has now won the last six Democrat primaries or caucuses and has raised more money than Hilary three months in a row.
Update April 11 – Sanders wins Wyoming making it seven in a row.
Update May , 5 – Saunders wins Indiana by a comfortable margin.
The FBI investigations into Hillary’s use of an unapproved private server to conduct State Department business and the Clinton Foundation’s operations during her term as Secretary of State are both moving forward rapidly. Regardless of what happens with these investigations they could create a situation where someone else steps up to run for President on the Democratic ticket or as a third or fourth party candidate.
Many Bernie Sanders supporters say they will not vote for anyone else, including Hillary.
Some Bernie Sanders supporters say they will vote for Trump if Bernie is not the nominee.
Update 5/03 – Cruz unexpectedly drops out of the race virtually assuring that Trump will be the Republican nominee.
Many Trump supporters say they will not vote for anyone else.
Some Trump supporters say they will vote for Hillary if Trump is not the nominee.
Many anti-Trump Republicans say they will not vote for any presidential candidate if Trump is the party nominee or will vote for a write in candidate.
Many people say they have never voted before but are registering and voting in the primaries for this Presidential election. They are voting solely as anti-establishment voters. Most of them will only vote for their choice for President which means that they will not vote for anyone else running for any national or state office, especially incumbents.
Some groups and individuals have made public threats of violence if Trump is a formal Presidential candidate while others are threatening violence if he is not!
With all this turmoil we could have a huge voter turnout or a really low voter turnout in the general election in November with the votes split among more than two Presidential candidates. If Trump is the Republican nominee and there is not a viable third party candidate in the race immediately after the conventions a group of anti-Trump Republicans is planning to run a candidate in key states. With a viable third party candidate running in the general election it is probable that no Presidential candidate will win a majority of the votes. If a candidate does not win a majority of the votes the US House of Representatives will elect the President and the US Senate will elect the Vice President based on the Twelfth Amendment (ratified June 15, 1804).
The US House of Representatives would choose the President with each state having only one vote (the representatives do not get an individual vote). The House will consider only the three candidates who got the most votes in the general election.
The US Senate would choose the Vice President with each Senator casting a single vote for one of the two candidates who got the most votes.
The information posted above regarding the House and Senate electing the President and Vice President was summarized using information from a much more detailed writing. You can use the link below to see the original writing.
http://electoralcollegehistory.com/electoral/crs-congress.asp
Another interesting side effect of the “turmoil” surrounding the Presidential candidates and the general election in November is how it could affect the other people running for office on national, state, and local levels and, ultimately the Supreme Court. This election has the potential to completely change the political structure of our country for generations.
Get informed, get involved, and choose WISELY in November.