Riots after the election?

[Saab1911]

I wouldn't be surprised to see riots if we have another case of the Electoral College overturning the popular vote.

That's the system we have. That's why candidates campaign
more in one state versus another because one state may have more
electoral votes than the other or they've given up on winning a certain state
but still think they have a chance to win another.

It's like saying Ivan Lendl didn't deserve to win the 1984 French Open
because he didn't win as many points as John McEnroe did and that the
set tally overturned the point tally.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

I wouldn't be surprised to see riots if we have another case of the Electoral College overturning the popular vote.

That was the problem with the Gore and Kerry whiners. Presidential Elections are constitutionally based on the electoral college. To base the results on the popular vote would be to overturn the Constitution.

 

[JuanCarlos]

That's the system we have. That's why candidates campaign
more in one state versus another because one state may have more
electoral votes than the other or they've given up on winning a certain state
but still think they have a chance to win another.

It's like saying Ivan Lendl didn't deserve to win the 1984 French Open
because he didn't win as many points as John McEnroe did and that the
set tally overturned the point tally.

Why thank you for the politics lesson. I had no idea about any of that. Seriously, though, I know both how the EC works (and how it affects elections) and why it's needed. At the same time, tell that to the plurality of people who voted for the other guy. If it happens twice in a decade (and in favor of the same party, no less), I think it's possible people might get just a smidge upset, don't you?

There's no need to lecture me. I won't be out grabbing a chunk of masonry to toss. I'm just saying that this is the kind of thing that might (and not altogether unreasonably) lead others to take regrettable actions.

Oh, and I'd suggest that the Presidency of the United States is not a tennis match.

That was the problem with the Gore and Kerry whiners. Presidential Elections are constitutionally based on the electoral college. To base the results on the popular vote would be to overturn the Constitution.

Kerry whiners? What are you talking about? Bush won in '04 by a clear margin in the popular vote, and to my knowledge there weren't any particularly closely contested states (at least not enough to effect the EC outcome).

 

[TwoXForr]

I see a possibly of a riot happening. I read a study of riots once, but it will take a couple of factors, a large amount of people gathered in one place with tensions running, high (so good weather on election day with moderate temperatures)

Some event to spark the crowd and motivate them in one direction. (a police officer acting stupid, or a car driving thru the area with some gesture happening that the crowd sees as being against Obama)

I work in inner city Philadelphia and thier is a great deal of excitment about Obama, (T-shirts and all), I will be keeping my eyes open on election day, and election night I will leave the city for my home in suburbs where I shall watch the local news intently.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Kerry whiners? What are you talking about? Bush won in '04 by a clear margin in the popular vote, and to my knowledge there weren't any particularly closely contested states (at least not enough to effect the EC outcome).

Ohio. Kerry supporters all but begged him to file a legal challenge in that state. He refused, probably because it wouldn't have mattered in the end. In fairness, the Kerry campaign handled the loss with considerably more class than Gore.

 

[ringworm]

but it will take a couple of factors, a large amount of people gathered in one place with tensions running, high

like mass gatherings to watch the election results?

look for those anouncements and stay away.

 

[DieHard06]

Ohio. Kerry supporters all but begged him to file a legal challenge in that state. He refused, probably because it wouldn't have mattered in the end. In fairness, the Kerry campaign handled the loss with considerably more class than Gore.

+1 I was surprised and had a little more respect for him after that.

 

[JuanCarlos]

Ohio. Kerry supporters all but begged him to file a legal challenge in that state. He refused, probably because it wouldn't have mattered in the end. In fairness, the Kerry campaign handled the loss with considerably more class than Gore.

Not to derail too far, but that's probably because (unlike the Kerry campaign) Gore had a very real possibility of winning if he pressed it. At that point I'd say he owed it to the plurality of voters who supported him to pursue it for as long as legally possible.

I'm not one of those "Bush isn't the real president" guys. But Bush did win Florida by a margin that was statistically zero, and there do exist reasonable recount standards by which he'd not have won. Gore was not being at all unreasonable by exercising the options available to him. That was a case where neither the outcome of the popular vote nor the electoral vote were particularly clear (the tiny margin in Florida being what made the EC outcome unclear, as it essentially decided the election).

I see a possibly of a riot happening. I read a study of riots once, but it will take a couple of factors, a large amount of people gathered in one place with tensions running, high (so good weather on election day with moderate temperatures)

Yeah, considering that the results aren't generally announced (or rather, projected) until well into the evening I don't think election day weather will be a factor.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

I'm not one of those "Bush isn't the real president" guys. But Bush did win Florida by a margin that was statistically zero, and there do exist reasonable recount standards by which he'd not have won.

I would agree. If there wasn't a riot after the Bush Gore election, there won't be one if Obama loses soundly.

 

[HKuser]

There could be riots if some of the conjecture about Hilary hornswagling Obama out of the nomination comes true (I find that remote). If Obama loses fair and square in the general then I think the probability is non-existent. Of course, Obama being part of the Daley machine, there is no telling how it will go.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

I would agree. If there wasn't a riot after the Bush Gore election, there won't be one if Obama loses soundly.

Nobody has really had the nearly messianic following that Obama enjoys and it's mostly among young people. Generally, it's younger people starting riots. That's the part that scares me.

 

[zxcvbob]

In 1968, it was the police that started the riot. (because Daley told them to?)

 

[sholling]

Obama's socialist agenda may be a disaster but by making it this far in the process... Becoming the presidential candidate of the party that brought into being the evil of the KKK and the Jim Crow laws. The party that fought against the Voting Rights Act and school desegregation and fought the Civil Rights Act of 1964.... has gone a long ways to put the race baiting race hustlers out of business. Even if Obama loses - enough have seen that yes a black American can be accepted as a serious presidential candidate and just maybe "the man" keeping them down is a thing of the past. There might be minor isolated problems but unless Obama is harmed there won't be any wide spread unrest. Nothing I'll lose sleep over.

reference

 

[M14fan]

I expect to see NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN news anchors riot!!!! (and perhaps a few celebrities)

They are the people I see that treat Obama as though he were the Messiah!!! (his nomination and potential election are frequently referred to as his ascention. His wife is also referred to as having ascended to the political stage.) I have yet to hear one who wasn't treating Obama as though he were ONLY hope for the future of humanityand without him we will sink into chaos and despair. :barf: