GOP's Latest Ploy to Rig Elections is Unraveling

     Today more Republicans spoke against the plans by some Republican dominated state legislatures to rig elections by changing how electoral votes are calculated-the plan would have it based on the number of districts won; of course the districts are already rigged through gerrrymandering.

     Virginia was the first state to toy with this idea. However, it's clearly backpedaling with GOP Governor Bob McDonnell coming out against it.   

     "The prospects appear doomed in Virginia this year for Republican-backed legislation that would replace the state's winner-take-all method of apportioning presidential electoral votes with one that awards one vote to the winner of each congressional district."

     "Virginia is the first of several states carried in November by President Barack Obama where the Republican-controlled legislature is considering measures to replace the winner-take-all allocation of electoral votes. The Virginia legislation survived a state Senate subcommittee on a 3-3 vote this week, but two Republicans on the full committee said Friday they would oppose the bill when it comes up for a committee vote next week, effectively killing it."

    "And should it clear the legislature, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Friday he opposes it. Spokesman J. Tucker Martin said McDonnell, a Republican, "believes Virginia's system works just fine."

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/bob-mcdonnell-electoral-college_n_2553197.html

    "Republicans in five other states that voted for President Obama in 2012 but whose statehouses are currently under unified GOP control are contemplating similar electoral vote schemes. They are Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida."

    "But Florida may be out of the picture for now as well. On Friday, the state’s Republican House speaker, Will Weatherford, condemned efforts around the country to change electoral vote distribution as a sore loser response to the 2012 election."

   What seems clear is that this is a plan that the more publicity it gets, the less chance it has of getting anywhere. The very existence of it is embarrassing. For one thing it shows that the GOP knows it can't win honestly. Weatherford admits this:
    
“To me, that’s like saying in a football game, ‘We should have only three quarters, because we were winning after three quarters and they beat us in the fourth,” Weatherford told the Miami Herald. “I don’t think we need to change the rules of the game, I think we need to get better.”

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/01/key-republicans-back-away-from-electoral-vote-scheme.php?ref=fpa

    While RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared his-qualified; he didn't say he would push  but that the states are "free" to go ahead-Haley Barbor has also come out against it. Clearly the GOP has no plans to stem the tide other than cheating on a grand scale.

   
    "This is mostly being fought out on the state level, but the DNC is now weighing in with a statement slamming the idea — raising the possibility that if Republicans take this national, Democrats will respond in kind. DNC spokesperson Melanie Roussell emails:

Although Republicans are couching their proposals in language of fairness, the motivation for changing the Electoral College is purely partisan. The Republican party lost in 2012 because they failed to appeal to the majority of voters in states like Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin. They know they can’t win on the issues, so they’re resorting to underhanded tactics and undermining the majority of voters in blue states.

     http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/25/dnc-slams-gops-electoral-vote-rigging-scheme/

     However what we saw today is that the GOP has no chance with this if it gets a national focus.

     "If anything, the GOP’s latest scheme is more nakedly political and partisan than its voter ID campaigns have been. At present, it’s unclear how much of an appetite there is for this among national Republicans and even among some state level officials. After all, GOP governors in some these states have been through some bruising political battles over labor and budget issues, and may not have the appetite for a scheme that is so plainly nothing but a massive partisan power grab. Meanwhile, national Republicans are grappling with serious GOP brand problems. The possibility that this whole thing could turn into a messy national fight could end up dissuading more prudent Republicans from following this course."

      In the end, I don't think this will go anywhere. However, it does show how increasingly desperate the GOP is getting.