Republicans hoping to stop Donald Trump are hoping for a deadlocked convention. But what about a deadlocked electoral college? A third party effort in today’s climate could make that happen. Whereupon the choice for president is up to the House of Representatives. Which Republicans control. Maybe they would pick someone good.
Eoin Higgins puts this idea forward and runs some numbers to show it could happen.
UPDATE: Thanks to Todd for quoting to me the 12th Amendment, which requires the House of Representatives, in the event that no one wins an electoral majority, to choose from the top three candidates. So theoretically, a third party candidate could be chosen in the House. The Republican majority would have to go against its own party’s candidate, which could possibly happen. But there is not much hope for this option.From Bridget Johnson, Ahead of Convention, Libertarians Dangle ‘Tax-and-Spending-Cutter’s Dream’ Nominee | PJ Media:
From Eoin Higgins, There’s Only One Way to Stop Trump: Kick Him Out of the GOP Now:
A group of GOP elites, panicking at the idea of a Donald Trump nomination, have met “secretly“ in DC to figure out what to do to stop the bloviating billionaire’s inexorable march to a majority of delegates. The meeting, which was held on Thursday March 17, ended without a clear path of resistance. The options, vague as they were, appeared to be: stop Trump from amassing delegates, present a viable alternative at the convention if he has enough delegates to sway the floor vote, or run an independent third party Republican and hope to wrest control of the party back from the base.
None of those options are good. A contested convention will lead to chaos. A viable alternative will struggle to garner enough enthusiasm. An independent run will rupture the party and require a complete rebuild of the political machinery and donor networks the Republican power structure relies on. No, there’s only one option that makes sense: block Trump now and force him to run third party.
This will absolutely lead to a numerical electoral defeat in November. A Trump run will split the right in 2016. The GOP may lose the White House and the Democrats may pick up working majorities in the House and Senate. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the GOP.
[Keep reading. . .]
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