How Bush Got Elected Twice (The Electoral College for Dummies!)

If I have heard, “….but you voted for Bush twice!!!!!!1111″ once, I’ve heard it at least 989920033697 times. In fact, this is the most predictable Americanophobic cliché and misunderstanding of Americans, their political system, their history, and government as all the other rumors that I have challenged in my blog.

It was one of the country’s greatest political myths: Americans went to the polls every four years to directly elect the country’s president. Then, courtesy of the 2000 election — with its hanging chads, star turn by the Florida Secretary of State and intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court — we received a crash course in the intricacies of living in a constitutional republic.

It turned out that all those years when many thought we were directly selecting a presidential ticket, Americans’ votes were in fact being filtered by the Electoral College, the body of 538 electors that actually chooses the country’s president and vice president. Once the popular vote has been tallied, these electors — often culled from the ranks of state elected officials, party leaders and politically active private citizens — cast their ballots for the candidate who received the most votes in the popular election. The system is winner-take-all in most states, meaning that whichever ticket receives a simple majority of the popular vote wins all of that state’s electoral votes; the minority candidate, by contrast, receives no votes at all. And it is this electoral vote, not the popular vote, that ultimately determines an election’s outcome.

Read the rest of the explanation here.

It wouldn’t be so frustrating if Americans weren’t called “dumb”, “stupid”, and “ignorant” on a routine basis. But the “ignorant Americans” are beginning to realize that the pots are only calling the kettles black. The Americanophobes are hypocrites because their “what they call truth” are merely rumors, knee-jerk reactions, fabrications, hyperbole, propaganda, and pure ignorance. But how surprised can I get as it is becoming common knowledge that Americanophobia  IS based on Ignorance.

As I have mentioned at least 84 times on my blog, George Dumya Bush was *NOT* – I repeat *NOT* elected twice (aka 2 times). In election 2000, Al Gore WON by the people – for the people – yes, that would be the popular vote.

Feast your eyes on this:

	George W. Bush		Albert A. Gore, Jr.		Ralph Nader		Electoral votes
	Popular vote	%	Popular vote	%	Popular vote	%	R	D	G
Alabama	941,173	56%	692,611	42%	18,323	1%	9
Alaska	167,398	59	79,004	28	28,747	10	3
Arizona	781,652	51	685,341	45	45,645	3	8
Arkansas	472,940	51	422,768	46	13,421	1	6
California	4,567,429	42	5,861,203	53	418,707	4		54
Colorado	883,748	51	738,227	42	91,434	5	8
Connecticut	561,094	38	816,015	56	64,452	4		8
Delaware	137,288	42	180,068	55	8,307	3		3
DC	18,073	9	171,923	85	10,576	5		21
Florida	2,912,790	49	2,912,253	49	97,488	2	25
Georgia	1,419,720	55	1,116,230	43	13,4322	1	13
Hawaii	137,845	37	205,286	56	21,623	6		4
Idaho	336,937	67	138,637	28	12,2922	2	4
Illinois	2,019,421	43	2,589,026	55	103,759	2		22
Indiana	1,245,836	57	901,980	41	18,5312	1	12
Iowa	634,373	48	638,517	49	29,374	2		7
Kansas	622,332	58	399,276	37	36,086	3	6
Kentucky	872,492	57	638,898	41	23,192	2	8
Louisiana	927,871	53	792,344	45	20,473	1	9
Maine	286,616	44	319,951	49	37,127	6		4
Maryland	813,797	40	1,145,782	56	53,768	3		10
Massachusetts	878,502	33	1,616,487	60	173,564	6		12
Michigan	1,953,139	46	2,170,418	51	84,165	2		18
Minnesota	1,109,659	46	1,168,266	48	126,696	5		10
Mississippi	572,844	58	404,614	41	8,122	1	7
Missouri	1,189,924	50	1,111,138	47	38,515	2	11
Montana	240,178	58	137,126	33	24,437	6	3
Nebraska	433,862	62	231,780	33	24,540	4	5
Nevada	301,575	50	279,978	46	15,008	2	4
New Hampshire	273,559	48	266,348	47	22,198	4	4
New Jersey	1,284,173	40	1,788,850	56	94,554	3		15
New Mexico	286,417	48	286,783	48	21,251	4		5
New York	2,403,374	35	4,107,697	60	244,030	4		33
North Carolina	1,631,163	56	1,257,692	43	—	—	14
North Dakota	174,852	61	95,284	33	9,486	3	3
Ohio	2,351,209	50	2,186,190	46	117,857	3	21
Oklahoma	744,337	60	474,276	38	—	—	8
Oregon	713,577	47	720,342	47	77,357	5		7
Pennsylvania	2,281,127	46	2,485,967	51	103,392	2		23
Rhode Island	130,555	32	249,508	61	25,052	6		4
South Carolina	785,937	57	565,561	41	20,200	1	8
South Dakota	190,700	60	118,804	38	—	—	3
Tennessee	1,061,949	51	981,720	47	19,781	1	11
Texas	3,799,639	59	2,433,746	38	137,994	2	32
Utah	515,096	67	203,053	26	35,850	5	5
Vermont	119,775	41	149,022	51	20,374	7		3
Virginia	1,437,490	52	1,217,290	44	59,398	2	13
Washington	1,108,864	45	1,247,652	50	103,002	4		11
West Virginia	336,475	52	295,497	46	10,680	2	5
Wisconsin	1,237,279	48	1,242,987	48	94,070	4		11
Wyoming	147,947	68	60,481	28	4,6252	2	3
Total	50,456,002	47.87%	50,999,897	48.38%	2,882,955	2.74%	271	266

I know. It’s hard to look at – especially when you’ve been told differently by the BBC, the CBC, Faux News, and your favorite tabloid that talks AmeriKKKan dirt like no other.

What was all the ruckus over for a whole month after the 2000 election that made Michael Moore write a whole book about it? Well, see (and Micheal Moore being not all too often right on the money about anything, he was right about this) BUSH DIDN’T EVEN WIN THE ELECTORAL VOTE!

How does the Electoral College work?

It may surprise you to know that Russia has a more direct presidential election process than the United States. In the United States, a system called the Electoral College periodically allows a candidate who receives fewer popular votes to win an election. In fact, there have been several presidential candidates who won the popular vote, but lost the election because they received fewer electoral votes. In Russia, where no such system exists, the candidate who r­eceives a majority of popular votes wins the election.

For more information on how the Electoral College works, please continue reading here.

LET THE TRUTH BE KNOWN. AL GORE WON THE 2000 ELECTION. RECALIBRATE YOUR MIND AND RE-WIRE YOUR BRAIN. INPUT CORRECT INFORMATION. ERASE THE PROPAGANDA. PUT DOWN YOUR BRITISH TABLOIDS.

Please click below to get informed. Because when you’re talking to Americans, you want to give a good impression that you are aware of American politics to avoid any embarrassment. (Or at least when in doubt, ask questions instead of quoting “The Daily Star”.)

The 2000 Election Chronology

• Tuesday, Nov. 7—Election Day. Pundits have predicted a tight race between Texas governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore, but few expect one of the closest elections in U.S. history. By early evening, it’s clear the election hinges on Florida.
• Wednesday, Nov. 8—Gore calls Bush at approximately 3 A.M. to concede, but retracts the concession shortly after, because Bush’s razor-slim lead prompts an automatic recount. He leads Gore by about 1,210 votes out of nearly 6 million cast in Florida. Meanwhile Gore leads in both the national popular count and the electoral college.
• An unusual amount of votes for third-party candidates in Palm Beach County leads to disputes over the county’s “butterfly ballots.” A number of ballots in other counties are disqualified because the chad > the small piece of paper punched out of punch-card ballots—did not fully detach from the ballot.
• Thursday, Nov. 9—Gore’s camp requests a hand recount of the approximately 1.8 million ballots cast in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Volusia counties, Democratic strongholds.
• Friday, Nov. 10—Florida’s automatic recount is completed. The Associated Press reports that Bush has retained his lead but only by 327 votes.
• Saturday, Nov. 11—The Bush team, led by former secretary of state James Baker, files suit in federal court to block Gore’s request for a hand recount.
• Monday, Nov. 13—Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris announces she will not extend the Nov. 14 deadline for the submission of all state results, excluding absentee ballots from overseas.
• A federal judge in Miami rejects Bush’s efforts to halt manual recounts. Bush appeals the decision.
• Tuesday, Nov. 14—Harris postpones certification of the state’s votes until Nov. 15, so Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties have time to prepare an explanation of why they should hand count their ballots.
• Wednesday, Nov. 15—Harris decides that no county offered adequate evidence to justify further hand recounts.
• Florida Supreme Court denies a request from Harris to stop the hand recounts. Certification is again postponed.
• Thursday, Nov. 16—Bush’s lawyers present written arguments to the U.S. federal appeals court in Atlanta to end the manual recounts. Gore’s team files a counter motion.
• Friday, Nov. 17—The Florida Supreme Court blocks Harris from certifying election until it rules on the Democrats’ motion to include hand recounts.
• The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denies the Republicans’ motion to stop manual recounts on constitutional grounds.
• Saturday, Nov. 18—With a tally of absentee ballots, uncertified count has Bush ahead of Gore by 930 votes.
• Tuesday, Nov. 21—Florida Supreme Court rules that results of hand counts of ballots in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties must be included in the vote tally if the counts are completed by Nov. 26.
• Sunday, Nov. 26—Harris certifies Bush as the winner of Florida’s 25 electoral votes, with a 537-vote lead over Gore. Gore pledges to challenge certification in court. The tally does not include results from Palm Beach County, which finished its hand recount hours after the deadline.
• Monday, Nov. 27—Gore contests the Florida results in a circuit court in Tallahassee.
• Wednesday, Nov. 29—Leon County Circuit Court judge N. Sanders Sauls orders that all ballots from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties be sent to Tallahassee for a hearing on whether the hand count, which was incomplete at the time of the court-ordered Nov. 26 deadline, should be included in the final vote tally.
• Thursday, Nov. 30—Florida lawmakers, voting along party lines, recommend holding a special session to name the state’s 25 electors if the election dispute is not resolved by Dec. 12, six days before the electoral college meets.
• Friday, Dec. 1—The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on whether the Florida Supreme Court acted properly when it forced the Florida secretary of state to accept manual recounts submitted after the legal deadline.
• The Florida Supreme Court denies Gore’s appeal to immediately begin recounting ballots and rejects motion filed by some Palm Beach County citizens who questioned the integrity of the “butterfly ballot.”
• Gore requests a count of approximately 14,000 “undervotes” from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
• Monday, Dec. 4—Judge Sauls rejects Gore’s contest of the election results, saying the vice president failed to prove that hand recounts would have altered the results. Gore appeals to the Florida Supreme Court.
• U.S. Supreme Court asks Florida Supreme Court to explain why it ordered Harris to accept results submitted after the Nov. 14 deadline mandated by state law, thus returning the case to Tallahassee.
• Thursday, Dec. 7—Gore’s legal team appeals Sauls’s ruling. Bush’s lawyers argue that the decision should stand.
• Friday, Dec. 8—The Florida Supreme Court, ruling on Gore’s appeal, orders manual recounts in counties with large numbers of undervotes. Bush appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and seeks injunction to stop recounts.
• In two separate lawsuits, Leon County Circuit Court judges refuse to throw out absentee ballots from Seminole and Martin counties that had been disputed by Gore.
• Saturday, Dec. 9—The U.S. Supreme Court votes 5–4 to halt the hand recounts and sets a hearing for Dec. 11.
• Florida Supreme Court hears appeal on whether absentee ballots in Martin and Seminole counties should be counted.
• Tuesday, Dec. 12—The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bush v. Gore 7–2 to reverse the Florida Supreme Court, which had ordered manual recounts in certain counties. The Court contends that the recount was not treating all ballots equally, and was thus a violation of the Constitution’s equal protection and due process guarantees. The Supreme Court of Florida would be required to set up new voting standards and carry them out in a recount. The justices, however, split 5–4 along partisan lines about implementing a remedy. Five justices maintain that this process and the recount must adhere to the official deadline for certifying electoral college votes: midnight, Dec. 12; other justices question the importance of this date. Since the Court makes its ruling just hours before the deadline, it in effect ensures that it is too late for a recount. The decision generates enormous controversy. Those objecting to the ruling assert that the Supreme Court, and not the electorate, has effectively determined the outcome of the presidential election. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg writes in a scathing dissent, “the Court’s conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court’s own judgment will not allow to be tested. Such an untested prophecy should not decide the Presidency of the United States.”
• Wednesday, Dec. 13—In another decision, Florida Supreme Court decides not to hear an appeal from Gore asking that absentee ballots from Martin and Seminole counties be thrown out.
• In televised speeches, Gore concedes, and Bush accepts the presidency.
• Monday, Dec. 18—Electoral college representatives meet in state capitals and cast votes to select president.
• Wednesday, Jan. 5—Congress meets to tally electoral college results.
• Saturday, Jan. 20—George W. Bush sworn in as 43rd president of the United States.

The above is not news for most Americans. We expect this. We live this. However, we have fought this. Even in the 21st century, we are still fighting this until they fix this corrupt system owned by very rich and powerful bankers. The Republican party is all for the rich people. It does not represent the people. It does not represent the average man on the street. Admittedly, there are many poor Americans that vote Republican (the party for the rich) sacrificing some of their own interests for the party that stands for God and Guns. Don’t ask. The Neo-Conservatives don’t like hearing that Al Gore won the 2000 election. They cringe at it as do the Americanophobes that think for some godforsaken reason that Americans all have the same DNA. Hoo hummm….

A Canadian Intellectual even comments on our Electoral Process.

“…I figured it’s time to let everybody in on a secret, not that well kept mind you… it’s all a giant waste of time, come November 4th, the results of the election will be determined by 3 voters.

[Snip!]

In case you missed it, the president of the US is determined by what’s known as the electoral college. In this arcane system, the winner is determined by whoever manages to receive the most electoral votes. Each state is allocated a number of votes more or less based on its population, California the most with 55 and little states like the Dakotas, 3 each. If you receive the majority of votes in, say, Oregon, you get all 7 of Oregon’s votes, making the votes of all those who voted for another candidate completely irrelevant in the final count (*see below). This is done on a state-by-state basis, and the winner is determined by who gets the most electoral votes.

As has happened in the past it is quite possible for the winner of the election to actually receive less votes than the loser (in fact it’s happened 4 times: 1824, 1876 and 1888 and of course 2000). Now, the fact is a majority of voters in the US are either Republicans or Democrats and it wouldn’t matter if Krusty the Clown was their party’s candidate, that’s who they will vote for. Additionally, most states tend to be either Republican or Democrat states, for example California will be Democrat and Oklahoma will vote Republican. Of course these preferences change over time, slowly, but why are we wasting so much energy on this when we already know most of the results?…”

There are also some states that have lighter shades of red or blue or just about 50-50, but what he said in his blog entry was accurate. Feel free to read the rest of his post here.

A site dedicated to impeaching Bush declared the following:

Is Mr. Bush Really the President?!

In 2000, a clear majority of Americans voted for Al Gore. But the winner is determined by the Electoral College, so the winner in each state must be considered. The vote in Florida was so close that it took a month to declare a winner. Before Florida was declared, Gore led in the Electoral College with 266 votes to Bush’s 246 votes. When Bush was declared the winner of Florida by 537 votes, he picked up 25 Electoral College votes which gave him the Presidency.

So, with that said, Bush didn’t even win the ELECTORAL VOTE! Feel free to read the rest of the story here.

The Americanophobes and staunch Republicans will deny all of this until the pigs with lipstick come home, but the jury is *NOT* out on any of this. It is fact. But it is a hard one to swallow. To suggest that the “Greatest Nation on God’s Green Earth” is anything less than a Democracy is foreign to the ignorant or those that refuse to accept a harsh truth – especially one that places a threat on a life-saving mission for those with inferiority complexes.

It is true, however, that Bush DID get considerable support back in 2004. One commenter on my blog theorizes,

The Bush stuff never fails to amuse me, “OMG!!! THEY ELECTED BUSH”. I’d like to quote The late-great George Carlin on that one, “I still call him Governor Bush because that’s the last office he was legally elected to”. George Bush was appointed by the U.S. Supreme court (by daddy’s appointees) in 2000. Had he not been, he wouldn’t have even been an option in 2004.

Why was he re-elected in 2004? The war. Was it necessarily support for the war on moral grounds? Not really. Bush got a ton of red state support in 2004. Why? This is just a hunch of mine, but not one without careful and considerable observation. It comes down to one thing: Vietnam.

It’s a very personal, walking-on-eggshells sort of issue. The U.S. military has always recruited heaviest in the south and midwest. A lot of men in “fly-over” states either enlisted, or were drafted into Vietnam in the 60’s. They thought they were doing the right thing. They saw all these hippies burning their draft cards and running off to Canada. They went off to war and when they came home, were treated very badly by the country they thought they were serving.

Something like that you never forget. Their kids and grandchildren hear tales of how all these hippies and “intellectual sissies who think they’re so damned smart” spat on their loved ones way back then, calling them “babykillers”, god knows what else, and it breeds quite a bit of contempt. As a result, as long as there are people protesting the war, they will be there to support it, even if only out of spite. I don’t agree with it, but I understand where it comes from. That’s just how it is.

It is human nature that leftist Americanophobic intimidation causes people to veer toward the right of center. I’m not saying that it is right, but that IS how things are. And there are many who have converted to Right Wing politics for the reasons mentioned above. Many. And that is also the cause of the birth of Neo-Conservatism.

Lina Maria, a Colombian living in America writes a piece called, “Average Americans”, (along with a Spanish translation) and I agree with what she states here:

Those who chose Bush did not do it because they do not care what happens to the rest of the planet. Bush managed to convince many Americans that his intentions were to liberate the Iraqi people and to eradicate terrorism of the face of the Earth; an idealistic notion to believe in, but never a selfish one. This is why I think that the “Average American isn’t selfish in regards to the world”. On the contrary, they care too much. This has been an altruism that has cost them dearly and continues to go unappreciated.

I wrote this piece not from the point of view of a foreigner living in America, but from the perspective of an immigrant who has fully integrated into this society. After I posted this in Spanish, people continued to say mean things about Americans. They still believe that Americans are blind and selfish; something they feel was confirmed by the reelection of President Bush. Never mind that nearly half of us voted for Kerry. But even those I know who voted for Bush, did not do it because they want to destroy the world. Many of those who voted for him did it because they truly believed he would rid the world of tyranny and terrorism. How can someone call that selfishness? Naive maybe, but not stupid or selfish.

To all Americans, Bush voters or not, feel proud of what your country stands for and keep your heads high. Have faith in yourselves and your values… Truth will always prevail…

To non-Americans: Throw the first stone if your country is free of wrongdoing.

Feel free to read the rest of her essay here.

Why am I posting all of this?

I encourage you all to criticize all-things-American-corruption. Tell me what’s on your mind. Get it all off of your chests. Tell me you hate Bush, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi War, Neo-Capitalism, American Globalization and Dominant Monopolies that threaten competition. I will agree with you. We can have a nice conversation while bickering about the Bush administration over delicious Tequila Shots. I bet you are not as passionate a critic of the US as I am. I don’t object to any decries about those who run the American government … AT ALL. But when you start with the inane stereotyping, the sweeping generalizations about me, my family, my friends and those whom you have never met before, I lose respect for you and stop listening. There is no excuse for pubic bigotry, in my book. I would like to think that those who label themselves as “informed”, “enlightened”, “worldly”, and “educated” to be more “in the know” of the topics they discuss.

Criticism of ANY kind should be fair, balanced, informed, constructive, and thought provoking.

I now hope that you are all aware of how the Electoral Process works during American presidential elections. Not that this will put rampant and mindless Americanophobia (that has been alive and well since the 19th Century) to rest or anything. I don’t expect Americanophobia to end. It actually HAS to exist because how else would the Americanophobes in Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Latin America survive their own shortcomings without the crutch of the American scapegoat?

And let me just leave with you a sample of Election 2008’s Electoral Vote before the major election coming in November:

So, as you can see, the votes in Idaho do not count on the electoral level. And yes, that means that if I lived in Idaho and I voted for Obama, it wouldn’t count. (I vote regardless just to have my vote on paper as I think that is important especially to further expose the flaws of the electoral college.) Naturally, the above map is subject to change on November 4th, but is merely just an example of how it works. And before you Anti’s start crying about that, YES, we Americans are trying to CHANGE this system.

Read, listen, and learn with an open mind before you criticize (if your herd leader allows you to do so).

UPDATE!!

If that wasn’t enough to show how undemocratic our voting system here is, THIS is equally worse – if not more so:

More on our Democracy being hacked mercilessly: