Why we might not have a presidential winner on election night
President Obama and Mitt Romney are each preparing for recounts, confusion over voter-eligibility rules, and even the chance of a tie in the Electoral College. A close election, as this one will almost certainly be, means all three scenarios are on the table. …
Florida’s infamous 2000 presidential recount is the first thing that comes to mind when talk turns to a possible recount. And election experts in the Sunshine State want people to know things have changed in the last 12 years.
The state’s recount rules are now far more clear and explicit, and less vulnerable to charges of political maneuvering. Instead of recounting individual counties, recounts are now conducted statewide in cases of a winner beating an opponent by half of a percentage point or less. The trigger is automatic.
Blowback
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Setting the stage……..
HumpBot Salvation on October 26, 2012 at 9:18 AM
Because Democrats are notorious at trying to pull that sort of crap when they lose?
Gingotts on October 26, 2012 at 9:18 AM
“I remember my first time, his name was Chad, he had the cutest dimple” -Lady Parts voter
Flange on October 26, 2012 at 9:19 AM
Keep dreaming. Romney will be declared the winner on Election Night. Maybe not by every network. And maybe he won’t give a victory speech if Obama refuses to concede until the next morning, but we’ll know who the next President is that night.
Doughboy on October 26, 2012 at 9:21 AM
May one take that the voting machines are all programmed to count Obama – regardless of buttons pushed?
OldEnglish on October 26, 2012 at 9:22 AM
When you win by 8-10 points, re-counts are useless…there will not be any re-counts, just some chatter, but the clear victor will be Mitt Romney.
OH, WI, IA, VA, NC, FL, MN, PA, CO, NV…all of these will be Mitt’s, the only re-counts will be in Chicago, L.A., certain cities they can’t afford to lose…but not states, it will be over by 9 PM EST…get your popcorn early, get your cold beer early, we are all going to bed early and waking up with a bounce in our step, a smirk on our face…and the knowledge that the only thing we have to look forward to is who is Obama going to give favors to the last couple of months in the White House.
right2bright on October 26, 2012 at 9:22 AM
If it’s not close, they can’t cheat.
bayview on October 26, 2012 at 9:22 AM
They fought hard for gore, who the didn’t like.
Imagine what they will do for Obama, whom the love.
portlandon on October 26, 2012 at 9:23 AM
Case in point, Senator Al Franken.
Fallon on October 26, 2012 at 9:24 AM
They called him “hanging” Chad and boy did I ever find out why.
Seriously though, the more they talk about how close it is going to be, the more I think it’s going to be a blowout. Gore was VP during a booming economy with no military action going on. He should have walked away with it. That it was so close is a testament to how bad a candidate he was. Øbama is ostensibly a better candidate, but we’re at war and the economy has hit the skids. If it is even close then there’s something wrong with the electorate.
Odysseus on October 26, 2012 at 9:27 AM
It won’t be close – there’s a LANDSLIDE a-comin’.
Pork-Chop on October 26, 2012 at 9:27 AM
“This will be a close one” has been the going conventional wisdom for a long time now, and it’s utter BS. Romney is going to win, and he is going to win by a large enough margin that there won’t be any questioning it. I’m falling in the Dick Morris column on this one. The utter panic and desperation from the left proves it to me more than any poll ever could.
Shump on October 26, 2012 at 9:28 AM
Because Bark and Mooch will lock themselves in the Oval Office with a couple of tricked-out M16′s and screaming “We ain’t leaving! You f**k with us you’re f**king with the best!”
Bishop on October 26, 2012 at 9:31 AM
These guys have no idea what’s about to hit them.
Tomolena1 on October 26, 2012 at 9:33 AM
It will be 2 years into a Romney administration before the dolts at MSNBC declare him the winner..if then.
HumpBot Salvation on October 26, 2012 at 9:33 AM
my sundry parts are all a-tingle with the thought that it’s going to be a blow out.
mittens on October 26, 2012 at 9:34 AM
Just because you keep saying it doesn’t make it true. But I shouldn’t be surprised, liberals think truth is relative anyway.
MobileVideoEngineer on October 26, 2012 at 9:35 AM
More succinct than my post…it won’t matter, it won’t be close…
People are marching for miles to hear R/R, overflow crowds, people are tired of name calling, no program, no policy, allowing our citizens to die, while watching them die…no jobs, despair, no hope, no change, they are tired and disgusted.
The are “born again” American’s, they see the future can be brighter not bleaker, the heavy fog of despair is lifting, both Romney and Ryan, together, maybe the first time two great men have come together to lead us out of the drudgery of the last 4 years.
This will be a team, and the dems will embrace it because they know, they honestly know, that the best chance for America (and for them to get re-elected) is to embrace a policy that will change the course of America…rebuild American, into the place of prominence it was created for, over 200 years ago.
Our place in history was displaced for 4 years, and it fed a hunger that is insatiable, we are the moral, economic leaders of the world…that is what we were born to do, and that is what we have chosen, as leaders, to do the past 100 years…and we want that mantle of responsibility back on our broad shoulders.
We have always been at the forefront of moral and political leadership…and we won’t relinquish that, but for a moment of time (4 year moment), before we reclaim the right to lead the world back to prosperity, and moral clarity.
That is who we are, and Romney and Ryan know who we are…and they are going to take us back to where we belong…
Election night will be short, sweet, and complete…
right2bright on October 26, 2012 at 9:35 AM
I think we got the picture when The Won went on TV to announce with horror and dismay that banks are trying to make money. There is simply no fooling the guy, he’s a genius.
Cindy Munford on October 26, 2012 at 9:36 AM
dream on.
Old Country Boy on October 26, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Translation: “… we will not call wi (or oh, or pa, or mi, or va) for Mitt Romney to the bitter end, we will stir controversy and insist on recounts, we will talk about voter suppression by the republican party..we will never surrender…”
runner on October 26, 2012 at 9:44 AM
Now that’s funny…
pain train on October 26, 2012 at 9:44 AM
Ras Fri
R 50
O 47
bgibbs1000 on October 26, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Much ado about nothing. Like Jazz commented in the Green Room, apparently the slimestreamers would rather do almost anything than have to choke out the words “President Mitt Romney”–but cheez am I looking forward to hearing all that choking. A commenter at Breitbart has the right phrase: Romney Tsunami.
stukinIL4now on October 26, 2012 at 9:56 AM
Best news of the day from
battlegoundwatch-
Today’s OHIO in one tweet: 220k fewer Dems have voted vs 2008, 30k more GOP. That’s net 250k. Obama won by 260k in ’08. Now 11 days left.
Bensonofben on October 26, 2012 at 9:58 AM
This stuff about it being close is being said for three reasons. The first is to motivate supporters. The second is fear of reprisals from one or the other side’s supporters if the race is declared to be tilting wildly in favor of someone. The third is, as Ace of Spades mentioned in a post a few weeks back, because no one wants to go out on a limb and sound “crazy.”
This election is going to go decisively to either Romney (hopefully) or Obama. It will not be close.
Doomberg on October 26, 2012 at 10:25 AM
Maybe Romney’s no Reagan.
But I can hardly believe, as disgusted as all of the Americans are with Obama I have seen across the country in my travels both in the real world & on the Internet, this will be close.
I just really see a lot of anger & disgust toward Obama.
Even by Democrats.
There’s a hard core vocal bunch out there.
But I have a hunch it isn’t big in numbers.
Badger40 on October 26, 2012 at 10:34 AM
They’re hoping it comes down to that.
Bob's Kid on October 26, 2012 at 10:37 AM
I don’t think it’ll be that close either, but Romney would be nuts not to pre-position large numbers of mean and aggressive lawyers, just in case. That’s just good preparation.
juliesa on October 26, 2012 at 11:18 AM
Dem lawyers need to make a living too ….
as a side note … some voting machines in NC
show Obama if you vote a straight R ticket ….
if you vote each individual candidate it works …
conservative tarheel on October 26, 2012 at 11:22 AM
was over at DU yesterday …
they seem to think it will be a landslide too …
for OBAMA ….
conservative tarheel on October 26, 2012 at 11:23 AM
This is the kind of stuff that media and Beltway types (and especially Beltway media types) dream about but is so utterly unlikely it’s laughable. This race isn’t going to be decided by half a percentage point as in 2000. If Romney cracks 50% of the vote nationally, and especially if he is closer to the more likely 52 or 53% it is just about impossible to have an electoral college cliffhanger. It’s just not happening.
But lots of lawyers will be very well paid to sit on standby just in case.
dczombie on October 26, 2012 at 11:26 AM