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Yachtie -> RE: Romney's Ron Paul problem. (9/13/2012 7:09:48 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DarkSteven
In a sign that Romney is running a horrible Presidential campaign, the Ron Paul supporters are hinting they may go rogue if selected as an elector. This pisses me off a lot - the electors are there to represent the people, NOT themselves. It also shows how badly Romney mishandled the Paul minority at the convention. I suspect he thought that selecting Ryan as VP would satisfy them.
As I've said before, supporting Gary Johnson's bid would be a more proper way for them to proceed.
Johnson is hardly a Paulite. It matters not what moniker he labels himself. Example Paul himself. Republican but hardly neo-con which embodies the party central. His treatment at the RNC is representative of that.
the electors are there to represent the people, NOT themselves - DS
It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations. It was also peculiarly desirable to afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder. This evil was not least to be dreaded in the election of a magistrate, who was to have so important an agency in the administration of the government as the President of the United States. But the precautions which have been so happily concerted in the system under consideration, promise an effectual security against this mischief. - Hamilton, Federalist Papers
Link -
Hamilton and the other founders believed that the electors would be able to insure that only a qualified person becomes President. They believed that with the Electoral College no one would be able to manipulate the citizenry. It would act as check on an electorate that might be duped. Hamilton and the other founders did not trust the population to make the right choice. The founders also believed that the Electoral College had the advantage of being a group that met only once and thus could not be manipulated over time by foreign governments or others.
Question is, would the Electors actually be doing their job if one like Paul, who respects his Oath, be elected no matter the will of the people?
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