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The Quadrennial Circus

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[Quadrennial: every four years.]

In presidential election years, Texas's electoral votes always go to the Red team. In fact, the concept of Texas voting red in a presidential election is so fundamentally reliable that the only time any presidential candidates even come to Texas is to suck up to our residents for campaign donations. But it doesn't have to be that way.

"Things crawl in the darkness that imagination spins. Needles at your nerve end crawl like spiders on your skin."

Now I don't want to get off on a rant here, but for more than 200 years (since 1824), leaders of the Old Parties have sought out - and sometimes found - any number of ways to "game the system" just to eke out even the smallest advantage against their mirror (or against anything and anyone who might have the temerity to oppose them), and one of the biggest ways that they've done that was to bastardize the Electoral College.

No, I do not want to eliminate the Electoral College. That is a supremely stupid idea for a number of reasons. However, the Constitution leaves it entirely up to the individual states as to how they allocate their Electoral College votes and this is where we, as Texans, can make a significant difference.

I want to pause here to state my first campaign promise: "If I am elected, I promise to propose a bill in the Texas Legislature that will alter the method that Texas uses to allocate its electoral votes to use a more equally distributive method than the current 'winner-take-all' system."

"I'm not giving in to security under pressure. I'm not missing out on the promise of adventure. 
I'm not giving up on implausible dreams."

If you are wondering "why would he promise this"? then answer this question: "How does the current "winner-take-all" rule benefit Texas and Texans?" My answer is that it doesn't. As for why I want to change it, that's simple: because I believe that ALL of Texas's voters deserve a voice in who they want to be the President of our great nation, and the current "winner-take-all" system doesn't give them that.

Alternative Methods

"A suspicious looking stranger flashes you a dangerous grin. Shadows across your window; was it only trees in the wind?"

There are two prominent alternative methods of changing "electoral math" at the state level.

The first is what I call the "Congressional District Method." This method is currently used by Maine and Nebraska, and it seems to be working for them despite their smaller size (relative to Texas), so I see no reason why it wouldn't work here as well.

Using this method, presidential votes are counted within each of the state's congressional districts (i.e., the areas used to elect people to the U.S. House of Representatives) with the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote within that district is awarded that district's electoral vote. The two remaining "at large" votes would go to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote. But let's break this idea down into real numbers.

As a result of the 2020 Census, Texas now has 38 Congressional Districts, so 40 electoral votes. If we look at the current makeup of the Texas Congressional Delegation and presume that a Democratic Congress-member represents how their district might vote in a presidential election, then instead of all 40 electoral votes going to the Republican candidate, 13 would go to the Democratic candidate with the remaining 27 would go to the Republican candidate. It's not a lot, but it's something.

Incidentally, if this method had been in use nationwide (as it should have been) for the 2020 election, the Biden/Harris ticket would have received 278 electoral votes (instead of 304) while the Trump/Pence ticket would have received 260 electoral votes. (Feel free to verify the results for yourself; all of the information that I used to calculate these results is available on Wikipedia.)

The second method is to distribute all 40 of Texas's electoral votes based on the percentage of the popular vote that each candidate received within the state. Putting that into real numbers using the results of the 2020 election here in Texas, Republicans would have received 21 electoral votes, and Democrats would have received 19 electoral votes. 

"Every breath a static charge, a tongue that tastes like tin. Steely-eyed outside to hide the enemy within."

But here's the kicker: if either of these plans were enabled, those voters who feel disenfranchised (i.e., any non-Red voter) and who also shuns the voting booth because they believe that their votes won't make a difference, would now have a reason to step up because, while not showing overwhelming support for a non-Red presidential candidate, they would have at least some voice in the election of the president instead of no voice.

The Consequences of Proposing This Bill

"Is it movement or is it action? Is it contact or just reaction?"

Some will say, "that bill would just get voted down by the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature." Of course it would be voted down; that's not the point. The point is that by voting it down, it displays (without equivocation) just exactly how partisan these legislators are. They don't really care about you and letting your voice be heard (despite whatever they may claim during their own campaigns). They just want to promote their own political party and their particular vision of what they think that America should look like, whether you agree with them or not.

"Revolution or just resistance? Is it living or just existence?"

Others may ask, "why would you propose that? It does nothing to promote the Libertarian Party." Well, actually, it does, just as much as it benefits any other independent or alternative party candidate. Think about it: if even ONE congressional district were to vote for an independent or alternative party candidate, it would be an atomic head-cannon to the Old Parties that there are real voters out there who are no longer satisfied with voting for "the lesser of two evils".

And if we can get Texas to distribute its electoral votes more evenly, maybe the presidential candidates would actually try to actually campaign in Texas instead of simply chalking us up as just another flyover state.

 

Some of my other opinions regarding the Quadrennial Circus:


Committee to Elect Darren Hamilton
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