37 rogue electors could keep country from disaster
Kathleen Parker COLUMBIA, S.C. — If you thought Donald Trump was the face of America’s anti-establishment movement, hold on to your chapeaus: A wild wind is rising.
Want to know what’s more anti-establishment than a president-elect who refuses to play by the rules? How about similarly spirited electors going AWOL and sending someone else to the Oval Office? Could it happen? Might. A movement headed by a mostly Democratic group calling itself Hamilton Electors is trying to persuade Republican electors to defect — not to cede the election to Hillary Clinton but to join with Democrats in selecting a compromise candidate, such as Mitt Romney or John Kasich. It wouldn’t be that hard to do.
Mathematically, only 37 of Trump’s 306 electors are needed to bring his number down to 269, one less than the 270 needed to secure the presidency.
On the Hamilton Electors’ Facebook page, Bret Chiafalo, a Democrat from Washington, explains the purpose of the Electoral College. If you’re not a fan of the electoral system, you might become one.
Bottom line: The Founding Fathers didn’t fully trust democracy, fearing mob rule, and so created a republic.
Most important among the criteria for a president was that he (or now she) be qualified. Thus, the Electoral College was created as a braking system that would, if necessary, save the country from an individual such as Trump.
It is worth noting that 50 former Republican national security officials and foreign policy experts signed a letter saying that Trump would be a “dangerous president.” Do we simply ignore them?
At least one elector, Christopher Suprun, has decided to pay heed. In an op-ed in Tuesday’s New York Times, Suprun, a paramedic in Texas, outlined all his reasons for not rubber-stamping Trump, saying that he owes a debt to his children. He urged others to join him.
This, apparently, they can do, though some states may impose penalties.
Alexander Hamilton, suddenly a star both on Broadway and Main Street, wrote that the Electoral College “affords a moral certainty that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”
Electors would prevent the “tumult and disorder” that would result from the candidate’s exploiting “talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity.” How wise our founders were. And how unwise are we to pay so little attention to their keen insights.
Meanwhile, those on both sides who remain opposed to Trump are dismissed as either sorry losers or as dining on crow and sour grapes. But the stakes are too high — and the evidence of Trump’s presidential aptitude deficit too severe — for such trivializing designations.
Trump’s friends have told me they’re confident he’ll solemnly respect the burden of power, but nothing thus far justifies their faith. Trump hasn’t much bothered himself with intelligence briefings. He ignored 37 years of diplomatic precedent by chatting with the president of Taiwan, upsetting China.
Electors are scheduled to meet Dec. 19 in their respective states to cast their final ballots. If there are 37 Republicans among them with the courage to perform their moral duty and protect the nation from a dangerous president-elect, a new history of heroism will have to be written.
Please, be brave.