September 24, 2024

42: That’s not only the answer to the question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, but also how many days we have left until Election Day. I apologize for not posting the past couple of days. It’s not that there was no news on the political front, but once in a while, we all need to step away from things to reset, right? Now that’s over, let’s get back into it.

Winners Don’t Always Take All

One of the chief issues that comes up every presidential election is the Electoral College. Like it or not, it’s still the method by which the United States actually chooses its president (and thusly the focus of election prognostication websites like Electoral-Vote.com or ABC News’ 538). While the majority of the states are winner-take-all, there are two, Maine and Nebraska, that do things a little differently. In both of these states, two of the states’ electoral votes are awarded to the statewide popular vote winner, while the others (two for Maine, three for Nebraska) are awarded based on the states’ congressional districts. Given the demographic makeups of each state, this has resulted in a few times over the past 20 years in which Maine has given 3 votes to the Democrat and 1 to the Republican, while Nebraska has split 4R/1D.

The reason for the quick civics lesson is because there’s been a push this year by the GOP to change Nebraska to winner-take-all, and eliminate the possibility of a Democrat gaining one vote in the college from what’s often referred to as “Omaha’s blue dot”. (Maine had been threatening to do the same if Nebraska went for it, effectively nullifying the change, but that effort would have had to have been passed before last Thursday to take effect in time.) Nebraska’s Republican’s hopes were effectively blocked yesterday, though, by state Senator Mike McDonnell, a former Democrat who joined the GOP this year, but remains opposed to the change — particularly this close to the election itself. His lack of support means there aren’t enough other votes within the state’s unicameral legislature for it to pass, but expect that, and regardless of November’s outcome, this may return as an issue. LINK

Meandering on the Trail

Former President Donald Trump held a rally in Pennsylvania last night, where he attempted to cast himself as the “protector” of women, stating that if he won, women would “no longer be thinking about abortion”. This was certainly in response to recent polls showing that Vice President Kamala Harris has a significant lead among women. (For her part, Harris stated yesterday in an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio that she would support an end to the Senate filibuster to pass federal legislation protecting abortion rights.)

Most major news organizations are characterizing Trump’s 90 minute appearance in the town of Indiana (hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart) as “meandering”, “wilder and wilder”, or full of “digressions” and “swerved repeatedly”. He also made statements that Johnny Carson should take back over the Tonight Show (despite the fact that Carson has been dead for nearly 20 years), that critics of the Supreme Court “should be put in jail”, and in response to once again suggesting the lie that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s pets, he led the crowd in a chant of “Send them back”. LINK

Shutting Down the Sheriff

In the Akron suburb of Ravenna, Ohio, the local elections board says that the local sheriff’s department will not be used for election security. This comes after the sheriff, Bruce Zuchowski, posted on social media that people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their address recorded so that immigrants (which he referred to as “human locusts”) can be sent to live with them if Harris wins. The Portage County board of elections chair Randi Clites referred to “perceived intimidation by our sheriff against certain voters” in a statement about the board’s vote to remove the department from providing security. For his part, Zuchowski has said that his statements “may have been a little misinterpreted”, but also that while voters can choose whomever they want for president, they “have to accept responsibility for their actions.” LINK