1856*

This debate is going to be a humdinger.**  This is the last chance the Fascist right modern Republican Party has to win under the present presidential electoral system.  Angry white men are dying off, and the number of diverse ethnic young voters is on the rise.  As Bill Clinton might say, it's just arithmetic.

They have no choice, Romney and Co. have to go for the kill shot.  No telling what crazy bullshit will hit the airwaves tonight, but get ready, it will surely be without precedent.  Gonna be ugly and hilarious all at once.

And so I come to the point of this little post.  Just a thought I've not seen floated anywhere else, but I would take a flyer on adventure and speculate that should the plutocrats and their overpowering money falter and fail to win this time, look for a full-court press across the country to return to a presidential electoral system whereby the state electors are chosen by state legislatures, not popular vote within the states.  The last time any state selected its electors in that manner was in 1856 when South Carolina was still that backward.  And the constitution  allows states to adopt that method even today.  Just a thought.  I know, hilarious and ugly. 

*Clarification:  1856 was the last time any state granted its legislature the regular and continuing task of appointing the state's presidential electors.  South Carolina did it that way, just as it always had, up until its act of secession in 1860.  For isolated, nonrecurring reasons, three other states' legislatures last appointed electors in the same historical era:  In 1848, Massachusetts did so because a 50% majority requirement had not been met by any contesting party.  In 1864, Nevada was admitted to the union and did not have time to conduct a popular canvass.  Similarly, in 1868, Florida had only recently been readmitted to the union and had not time for a popular vote.

**Update:   Wow, that was a dud of a debate - at least when thought of as a potential humdinger.  So, it was also a dud of a prediction.  Someone once told me that if you want to make at least a few correct predictions, make a lot of them.  So, I'm not shy or embarrassed on that score.

What is worrying though is that Romney did not swing for the fences last night, and that should tell us he and his campaign are feeling confident enough to be playing "not to lose" rather than going all out for the win.  Obama was the only one who came in with a pre-packaged zinger to launch, the one about horses and bayonets.  His delivery still needs some work, but it was fairly effective.

Anyway, I stand by the warning that the fascist right sees this election, under the usual methodology, as key to implementing its final solution to the legacy of the both the New Deal and Great Society, i.e. total destruction of Social Security and Medicare.  They know that from this point forward the demographics will trump their money and thwart their schemes in anything remotely resembling a popular vote election.  And, by the way, that is all we have now, the semblance of one. 

But they also know that they can pretty easily control state legislatures with their power and influence, regardless of the individual state constituency make-up.  This inside dealing is even more secretive, opaque, and effective than it shows on the national stage.  Just look at Louisiana, for instance.  Perhaps a more extended analysis of this proposition in a future post.

For now we should be aggressively pursuing strategies which will accomplish the opposite goal.  That is to say the dismantlement  or disabling of the so-called electoral college.  Remember, as Scalia said in 2000 when he and the other fascists were busy stealing the presidential election, individual citizens do not have the constitutional right to vote for president.  As long as the electoral college is still functioning, we never will.