Escape Hatches by MONA CHARENhttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/439878/escape-hatchesNBC’s “Commander-in-Chief Forum” underscored what we already knew. The nightmare choice between utterly mendacious and corrupt and frighteningly ignorant and unpredictable is upon us. I detailed some of Trump’s inanities here. As for Hillary Clinton, she was stiff and defensive (with good reason), hiding behind even more than her usual doses of dishonesty.
Desperate times. Many are casting about for desperate measures. In the Wall Street Journal, David B. Rivkin and Andrew M. Grossman have suggested that the Electoral College could function as originally imagined and substitute its judgment for that of the voters. I’m for it, as I’m for anything within the law to rescue us from this Sophie’s Choice. But I doubt this would be acceptable to a public that has come to believe that plebecites are the only source of democratic legitimacy in a republic. In other words, we’ve become more of a pure democracy than the Founders intended.
For what it’s worth, the Evan McMullin candidacy is the life raft I’m grabbing. He’s on the ballot in my state. If the Electoral College is close and neither major candidate gets to 270, the House of Representatives will decide among the top three finishers in the EC vote. This would probably eliminate Gary Johnson and Jill Stein as neither is likely to win a state, but could include the very sane, responsible, honorable, knowledgable, and articulate Evan McMullin. Grasping at straws? Absolutely. But better than any other option I have yet seen.
Read more at:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/439878/escape-hatches
