Amen to that Steve!

CAA---AARL,

Please humour this poor, uneducated, unsophisticated Ocker by explaining to him just what IS an "Electoral College". (An "OCKER" is an uncultured Aussie bloke).

Rick.

Hi Rick:

You most certainly are far from being an uncultured Aussie, but I completely understand your curiousity about the Electoral process. There are many in the USA who don't understand it's workings, and in some cases they don't even know it exists.

Rather than stumbling over my own words, I found the following information that should explain it better than I can. I hope it answers your question.

Current Workings of the Electoral College

The current workings of the Electoral College are the result of both design and experience. As it now operates:

Each State is allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U.S. Representatives (which may change each decade according to the size of each State's population as determined in the Census).

The political parties (or independent candidates) in each State submit to the State's chief election official a list of individuals pledged to their candidate for president and equal in number to the State's electoral vote. Usually, the major political parties select these individuals in their State party conventions while third parties and independent candidates merely designate theirs.

Members of Congress and employees of the federal government are prohibited from serving as an Elector in order to maintain the balance between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.

After their caucuses and primaries, the major parties nominate their candidates for president and vice president in their national conventions - traditionally held in the summer preceding the election. (Third parties and independent candidates follow different procedures according to the individual State laws). The names of the duly nominated candidates are then officially submitted to each State's chief election official so that they might appear on the general election ballot.

On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in years divisible by four, the people in each State cast their ballots for the party slate of Electors representing their choice for president and vice president (although as a matter of practice, general election ballots normally say "Electors for" each set of candidates rather than list the individual Electors on each slate).

Whichever party slate wins the most popular votes in the State becomes that State's Electors - so that, in effect, whichever presidential ticket gets the most popular votes in a State wins all the Electors of that State. (The two exceptions to this are Maine and Nebraska where two Electors are chosen by a statewide popular vote and remainder by the popular vote within each Congressional district).

On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December (as established in federal law) each State's Electors meet in their respective State capitals and cast their electoral votes - one for president and one for vice president.

In order to prevent Electors from voting only for "favorite sons" of their home State, at least one of their votes must be for a person from outside their State (though this is seldom a problem since the parties have consistently nominated presidential and vice presidential candidate from different States).

The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted from each State to the President of the Senate who, on the following January 6, opens and reads them before both houses of the Congress.

The candidate for president with the most electoral votes, provided that it is an absolute majority (one over half of the total), is declared president. Similarly, the vice presidential candidate with the absolute majority of electoral votes is declared vice president.

In the event no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral votes for president, the U.S. House of Representatives (as the chamber closest to the people) selects the president from among the top three contenders with each State casting only one vote and an absolute majority of the States being required to elect. Similarly, if no one obtains an absolute majority for vice president, then the U.S. Senate makes the selection from among the top two contenders for that office.

At noon on January 20, the duly elected president and vice president are sworn into office.

Occasionally questions arise about what would happen if the presidential or vice presidential candidate died at some point in this process. For answers to these, as well as to a number of other "what if" questions, readers are advised to consult a small volume entitle After the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President edited by Walter Berns and published in 1983 by the American Enterprise Institute. Similarly, further details on the history and current functioning of the Electoral College are available in the second edition of Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, a real goldmine of information, maps, and statistics.

More Information can be found at the Jackson County Election Board

Carl, you have four years to get ready! You have most of what you need already, a sounding board of advisors, the support of at least one Australian, Somebody in Washington behind you(Zwolley), and a firm grasp on many of the issues, and most of all a wicked sense of humor!

Just 20 million or so in funding, and a slogan to go!

-this is the funny bone right?

Will

Was that a joke?

,, 20 mil wouldn't even start to get her wet.

see THIS SITE

May I mark you down for the first contribution?

i wish i had enough time to respond to all those comments, but instead ill just say good, im glad there are so many $^!# eaters out there. i now have a new major in mind, business. im gonna get filthy rich selling all of you $^!#, because thats exactly what you want, thats what you voted for and thats what you will get. Thank You!

Gotta love the words of wisdom from Mr. Happy (280z). Odds are, when you are older and your ideals change, you may find that you too will enjoy the taste of $^!#! By the way, do you realize how entertaining you are? Everyone likes entertainment.....keep it coming. Oh, and have a nice day!

280z,

When I was your age, I like you was a young skull full of mush. It is not fatal. Your brain is just not fully developed yet. With time and education it will go away as long as you do not keep yourself in a poisened environment.

Daddy's gripe is not with the President. It is not any Presidents job to keep your daddy employed. That is his job along with his employer to keep him employed. If UAL goes tits up then take it up with them. I would guess you dad has been influenced by the UAL union. In turn he has influenced your thinking.

Like I said, it is not your fault. You are still just pooping mustard. :laugh: :laugh:

Well sounds like you are gonna go into politics if you are gonna be selling $^!#, 280z. By the way calling all Americans those names you have included yourself as well as every canidate on both parties, so now that you personal choice lost we are all those things you said. Doubt you even voted.

uh huh thanks y'all, and you bet i didnt vote? well ok because your obviously a smart fellow and you know me so well. when i look out my window, i see a memorial that some people on campus have set up with over 1000 pictures of the americans who died fighting to "liberate iraq" because thats just how nice of guy george is, he likes people all over the world to enjoy freedom. now i look at that memorial and try to picture 100 x that amount to represent the people of iraq who were slaughtered by this administration. now those of you with children, think for a minute, how would you feel if one of those pictures had your son or daughters face on it? and for what? why are so many people dead, tell me someone im dying to know. george bush is responisble for this, john kerry is also responsible for letting george do this, and the voters who NOMINATED (during the primaries) john kerry are responsible for this and the voters who chose george bush are responsible for this. now, is there anyone i havent pissed off yet? you dont think your baby killers? you are just as guilty as anyone else. im not taking sides, i never supported kerry because i felt that he and half of those democrats in the senate are spineless and responsible for this crime, but he was the only alternative choice and im not calling all americans $^!# eaters but those of you who havent gotten the message by now arent going to be laughing (no matter how entertaining i am) when this whole economy collapses after another attack which is only inevitable given the current administrations foreign policy. so cower in fear and keep your eyes tuned to the terror alert.

Paypal is on the way-whether or not it would be prudent at this juncture" depends upon whether I misunderestimate you, or not!

As an added feather in your cap, I will pledge the complete collection of Bushisms-at the end of his run, Kerryisms, and a copy of everything Ross Perot has ever said on tape.

But wait, if you enter the running before midnight tonight I will include the Ronco spray hair(I bought the wrong color-but it might work for you!)!!

Will

PS,

280Z, please get help before the realization that you have included yourself in the those you have damned. What did you DO to stop any of that. Some thing about glass houses and throwing stones comes to mind, but there is a steadfast hypocrisy to your logic. I don't think you have pissed anyone off, other than your self. I am saddened that you are putting yourself through the struggle you are, but gladdened that you care enough to be there. This is your Brainstorming arena, when the calm ensues, your arguments will have gone from where they are to where they make logical progression to a valid conclusion, and not the barrier to communication they currently are. Keep struggling, and never forget, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger-at least in a fully hashed missunderstanding.

Will

Ah, you said campus. Now I understand further. Remember I said your brain will grow and heal if you keep out of a poisened environment. You need to know 95% of your teachers are far left, liberal, socialist, communist, sick, vile liars. Among their aggenda is late term infanticide. Just look at Wills new baby and think about it. They also want to teach you to be gay and lesbian because it is a good thing and you will be better for it. Like the radical teachers of the vietnam era they want to teach you to overthrow any present government and live in the utopia of no government, no social order, and no more moral values.

I hear Sean Hannity has a deal for anyone that isn't happy with the results of the election. He will start a fund to pay the expenses for anyone that wants to move out of the country. All you have to do is pick a country you think is better and sign an agreement that you will never return and all your moving costs are free. Who knows you might end up living next door to a ex-hollywood movie star.