Independent Republican candidate for prez announcing today

[Lemon Drop]

well this is interesting
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37012626
Evan McMullin plans to announce that he is running for President, as an independent Republican.
He's a policy advisor to the House and ex-CIA and investment banker, Mormon from Utah, has never held public office. Backed by a group called "Better for America" According to Joe Scarborough, this group has the backing of many "major Republican donors."

https://www.betterforamerica.com/

[Ted King]

Well, there goes Trump's Utah Electoral College votes (Idaho, too, maybe?)

[Ombligo]

Won't make much of a difference, he'll be a write-in since the ballots are closed in 23 states, and another 8 close within the next four days. At best this further assures Clinton's victory (so Run Evan Run)

[Lemon Drop]

Ted King wrote:
Well, there goes Trump's Utah Electoral College votes (Idaho, too, maybe?)

It'll be tough for him to get on state ballots this late in the game, but his supporters are confident he can be enough of a "disruptor" to keep Trump from winning.

[GGD]

Lemon Drop wrote:
[quote=Ted King]
Well, there goes Trump's Utah Electoral College votes (Idaho, too, maybe?)

It'll be tough for him to get on state ballots this late in the game, but his supporters are confident he can be enough of a "disruptor" to keep Trump from winning.
I'll bet "someone" will view this as "the election is rigged".

[Ombligo]

Apparently the hope is that he'll turn enough votes to deny anyone the 271 electoral votes and throw the election into the house. If the election goes to the house, it can pick from any of there top three vote getters. That would likely be Clinton, Trump, and McMullin. It would get very interesting then..

Here are the rules:

1) Only the top three vote getters in the electoral college are to be considered.
2) Each state delegation in the House has only one vote, for a total of 50 votes. The District of Columbia, which sends a nonvoting delegate to the House, has no vote.
3) The state's choice is determine by a vote within its delegation. If that vote is a tie, the state loses its vote.
4) A winning candidate must receive the votes of a majority-26-of states.

The Senate selects the Vice President using a fairly identical process.

If neither the senate nor the house can make a decision by inauguration day, the 20th Amendment succession order takes place, and the Speaker of the House becomes President until either the Senate or House selects the actual actual President or VP.


I can not begin to imagine the uproar if the house selects the third place vote getter

[hal]

I'm just heading out the door for another two night backpacking trip - looks like, once AGAIN, everything will look different when I get back.

Anti-Trump Republican Evan McMullin to launch independent bid for presidency

Evan McMullin, the former chief policy director for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, will offer discontented members of his party an option this November by launching an independent, conservative bid for president.

“In a year where Americans have lost faith in the candidates of both major parties, it’s time for a generation of new leadership to step up," McMullin said in a statement to ABC News. "It’s never too late to do the right thing, and America deserves much better than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton can offer us. I humbly offer myself as a leader who can give millions of disaffected Americans a conservative choice for President.”

Citing “multiple sources” in a series of posts to Twitter, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was the first to announce McMullin's bid. He said McMullin will kick off his campaign Monday and has “the backing of key $$ contributors in the Republican Party.”

BuzzFeed also reported McMullin’s independent bid for the White House, similarly citing unnamed sources. And before noon, a web site launched soliciting donations for "Evan McMullin for President."

McMullin, who has never held elected office, was an operations officer for the CIA for 11 years from 1999 to 2010, according to his LinkedIn page. He earned an MBA in 2011 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the alma mater of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. He has also worked at Goldman Sachs, as a volunteer refugee resettlement officer for the United Nations and as a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/ev...z4Gl42doj4
Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook

[rjmacs]

Ombligo wrote:
I can not begin to imagine the uproar if the house selects the third place vote getter

There is zero chance that this would happen. Even the current House would elect the candidate with the plurality.

[Lemon Drop]

hal wrote:
I'm just heading out the door for another two night backpacking trip - looks like, once AGAIN, everything will look different when I get back.

Happy trails hal- see you when you get back.

Evan McMullin seems more like a character from Homeland than an actual person. Anyone seen him in person?

j/k

anyway this election just keeps getting weirder.

[pdq]

rjmacs wrote:
[quote=Ombligo]
I can not begin to imagine the uproar if the house selects the third place vote getter

There is zero chance that this would happen. Even the current House would elect the candidate with the plurality.
You think a Republican-majority House would pick - oh, for instance - Hillary Clinton for prez if she had a plurality?

If so, you are delusional.

Fortunately, it won't be going to the House.