At 12:00 noon today members of the Electoral College will gather in their respective state capitols and officially elect the 45th President of the United States.
Donald Trump’s supporters as well as the Republican Party en masse see this vote as little more than a duty dance.
Hillary Clinton supporters feel quite a bit differently about the matter. They feel that recent events warrant a serious deliberation among the Electoral College members as to the circumstances surrounding Trump’s Electoral College win and his fitness to serve.
If you set partisanship aside and read the words of the Constitution regarding the purpose of the Electoral College you can’t help but believe that there are matters to be discussed.
The Founders were all about checks and balances. They set up the Electoral College to act as a counterbalance to the popular vote. They wanted to make certain that the smaller states had a fair say in the electoral process. They wanted to make certain that the voting process as well as the office were free from the influence of foreign governments. And they wanted to make certain that the office of the president was held by someone qualified in terms of knowledge and temperament to handle the duties and pressures of the office.
Based on recent information we now know that a foreign government, Russia, attempted to effect the outcome of the election by hacking into various US institutions and releasing information that was damaging to Hillary Clinton and thereby helpful to Donald Trump. We also know that the hacking operation was executed under the personal direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In addition to Russia’s involvement in the hacking operation…we know that during the campaign executives from Trump’s business operations as well as members of his campaign staff flew to Russia to meet with Russian officials. We also know that Trump has been effusive in his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin while dismissing off hand any criticism of the Russian leader’s policies or behavior.
And then there is Trump’s selection of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as Trump’s Secretary of State. A man who has such a close relationship with Putin that he was awarded Russia’s highest civilian honor.
As to whether Trump is personally qualified to serve as president; one need only review the tapes of Trump’s own words and Trump’s personal behavior to know that he is not. Yes he is a successful business man with a personality that is certain to shake up the halls of government. He has no knowledge of foreign or domestic policy and has demonstrated little if any to learn. By his own words he is also a narcissist, a racist, a misogynist and a xenophobe whose inflammatory rhetoric has divided the country.
All of which explains why he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes.
The Founders created the Electoral College in anticipation of events that are coming to fruition today. Republicans claim to be the sole defenders of the Constitution. If that is true then they should acknowledge that a serious debate within the Electoral College is in order.
Sadly I doubt that anything of the kind will happen.
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