Dan Perkins: The Democrats Aren't Done yet Trying to Get Rid of President Trump

By Dan Perkins:

We will never know for sure the outcome of the Impeachment trial until the vote is taken. The conventional wisdom is that Donald Trump will not be removed from office via impeachment. Many Democrats will be disappointed, but I don't think they're done trying to get Donald Trump out of the Presidency before the next election. Recently, I discovered an alternative. 

The Democrats believe that the electoral college is outdated and that the President should be elected based on a popular vote. Hillary Clinton said she won the 2016 election because she had more popular votes than Donald Trump. However, an event took place this past week where the Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals in two cases concerning the obligation of electors to vote for the slate or person they had been elected to represent. Three Washington state electors and one Colorado elector decided not to vote for the person they actually were obligated to.  This caused each state to fire and/or fine them.

The three electors from Washington state and the one from Colorado have appealed these actions to the Supreme Court, which now must decide whether or not electors are obligated to vote for the people they said they were pledged to, or can they vote for whomever they want?

I believe after the failure of Donald Trump’s impeachment, the Democrats will lobby the court to give the electors the power to vote for whomever they want, regardless of their commitment to the voters they represent. If the Supreme Court decides by June that electors are not coupled to their commitments, in the next election, the Democrats will try and prevent Donald Trump from receiving all the electors that he rightfully would have won. Their intention, therefore, is to turn the election over to the House of Representatives to decide who will be the next President.

There have been two examples in our nation’s history where the House of Representatives decided who would be the president. In 1800 there were four individuals on the ballot, and no candidate had the required number of electoral votes. According to the Constitution, the selection was given to the House, who eventually selected Thomas Jefferson.

The second was in 1824 when John Quincy Adams was elected President by the House. In the 1824 election, 131 electoral votes, just over half of the 261 total that were necessary then to elect a candidate President. On December 1, 1824, the results were announced. Andrew Jackson of Tennessee won 99 electoral and 153,544 popular votes; John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts received 84 electoral and 108,740 popular votes; Secretary of State William H. Crawford, who had suffered a stroke before the election, received 41 electoral votes; and Representative Henry Clay of Kentucky won 37 electoral votes. Even with the majority of the popular vote, Jackson did not have the necessary 261, and henceforth the House of Representatives voted for John Quincy Adams.

With this as background, let us focus on the case now before the court concerning elector choice. If the Democrats are unsuccessful in convicting President Trump, they may well start another impeachment before the election. However, the court will have its decision before either of the party conventions next summer. Depending on the outcome, their plan of attack will change. While I don't think the court will overturn the Constitution, I do believe the Democrats will start right after the impeachment trial is over, beginning the process of lobbying the Supreme Court to overturn the Constitution. 

If they are successful and the court approves the electors' right to change, then look for the Democrats to start lobbying the electors to change their vote in any state that the President wins. The whole purpose will be to keep the President below the magic 270 electoral votes for election and push the selection to the House. If that were to happen and the Democrats were to maintain control of the House, and if they voted as a block like they did on impeachment, the Democratic candidate wins. 

Why do I think this will happen? This is what Schiff said in the trial, “that we can't trust the American people to make the correct decision and that is why we have to make it for them.” For now, the American people are fed up with being told they are deplorable, smelly, and stupid, and that only the elite in DC can make the right decision. 

Perkins Twist: the leadership of the Democratic Party will soon realize they can't win the election straight up, so they will encourage Bloomberg to run as an independent; therefore, he will be splitting the vote and perhaps will keep Trump from winning the 270 necessary electoral votes for election. I think the Democrats may lose the majority in the House this next election, so they will want this to happen quickly, even if they keep the majority in the House. 

Watch and see if I'm right.