It’s Round 2 in GOP’s Fight for Winner-Take-All
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When it comes to Winner-Take-All (WTA) the Nebraska GOP won’t take no for an answer.
For the second straight year the fight over Nebraska’s five electoral ballots in the 2012 vote for President is headed for a family showdown.
On Saturday the GOP will ask its top members to back a measure denying the party’s support to any Republican State Senator who doesn’t vote to reinstate WTA. In case you forgot that ’any Republican’ isn’t just any Republican, he’s Senator Paul Schumacher of Columbus.
As Nebraska Watchdog reported extensively earlier this year, Schumacher was the key vote in 2011 keeping the GOP from getting its way; it appears he will also be the key vote in 2012 which is the GOP’s last chance to change the rules before Election Day.
Here’s why: Last spring Schumacher joined with three Democrats on the Legislature’s Government Committee to keep WTA from going to the floor where the GOP—with a 34-15 margin over Democrats—would have presumably slam dunked the bill over to Governor Dave Heineman (R) for his signature.
Schumacher is more than ready for round two, telling Nebraska Watchdog he has no plans to change his vote.
Schumacher: “A small group of partisans is simply testing its power to dictate to the Legislature. This year it is winner take all, and what next year and the year after that? The Legislature is non-partisan. It belongs to the people not the parties. Polling indicates the people do not want a change.”
Nebraska Watchdog: ”Does (this latest push by the GOP) change your position?”
Schumacher: “A representative of the people is duty bound to just say no to threats.”
Nebraska Watchdog: “Are you going to the (GOP’s State Central Committee) meeting?”
Schumacher: “Not planning on it.”
For now Nebraska continues to join Maine as the only states which are not winner-take-all in the Electoral College. Two of Nebraska’s five electoral votes go to the winner of the statewide popular vote. The other three votes go to the winner of the popular vote in each of the state’s three congressional districts.
In 2008, President Obama won Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha. The victory left Obama with one electoral vote from Nebraska; Republican John McCain got the other four.
The fight over the ’08 Omaha vote found the Obama campaign pumping money and manpower into the 2nd District; two items Democrats will most likely need in 2012 to hold onto Ben Nelson’s Senate seat and to take another run at Republican Congressman Lee Terry.
Reported by Joe Jordan, joe@nebraskawatchdog.org
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Posted under Blog, State Politics.
Tags: Election Day, Electoral College, Joe Jordan, Nebraska Watchdog, Paul Schumacher
5:12 pm on September 15th, 2011
I believe Schumacher is basically a RINO and his reason is because he is getting supported by the Unions. Private and public service unions. The other item that the NeGOP needs to address during the central committee meeting this Saturday in Lincoln is, for the NeGOP to NOT endorse and financially support incumbents before the Nebraska primary on May 15th.
With the political climate and atmosphere not favoring incumbents, the Nebraska GOP would be wise to keep the primary elections a clean slate. Keeping this policy reveals what is wrong within the Republican party which feels its power slipping away due to the influence of the conservative tea parties. The mid terms exposed that those candidates that campaigned with a moderate platform, ended up not getting elected. what’s her name taking on Reid in Nevada and the witch candidate all failed to get elected because they were not conservative enough in their campaign. The GOP is depending on using the conservative activists to do the leg work for them again, but then begin to act like the bosses and force those who win to submit to the rank and file of the GOP ruling class.
Right now, there is not much difference between the GOP establishment and the Democrats. They are like two little brothers arguing in the backseat of the family car. They go head to head, but woe if someone picks on the other brother. They are both wanting to compromise the Tea Party, but which is the only hope to save the nation.
7:52 pm on September 15th, 2011
The Nebraska GOP’s strong desire to return to a winner take all system tells me that they believe that Obama will carry CD-02 next year.
11:59 pm on September 15th, 2011
If this state is truly interested in economic development, why would we not want money going into Nebraska? If we are winner take all, no candidate will give a rat’s rear end about Nebraska, because it’s overall a slam dunk republican.
5:16 am on September 16th, 2011
Obama will carry D-2 for the same reason he did before. Only this time, voters will come out and vote for the second time in their lives.
Many Democrats say that Republicans are racist in regards to not liking Obama. What about all the minority voters that chose Obama strictly by race? I see more truth in the latter.
11:34 am on September 16th, 2011
@ Jim Mason. The Tea Party save the Nation? Are you kidding? What drugs are you on?
Sharon Angle lost to Harry Reid and Christine O’Donnell lost to Chris Coons (how come I can remember your cherished Teabagger candidates’ names and you can’t?) NOT because they were moderate in any sense of the word, but because they were so far to the right they were falling-off-the-edge-of-the-world batshit crazy ignorant fools who were totally UNqualified to even run, let alone be elected, and scared off any sane person that looked at what they stood for and listened to their (often) racist rhetoric or total lack of Constitutional knowledge in their campaign babble-rants.
What makes (made) the Nebraska Unicameral a unique and successful functioning body IS the supposedly NON-PARTISAN nature of the body. It is the whiny, spoiled little kid “I want it all my way” attitude of the modern GOP
(which INCLUDES the “Tea Party” that is nothing more than the old ultra-right wing GOP rebranded) which is destroying the very premise of integrity to their constituency that makes the Unicameral work.
As a life-long registered Republican, an Eisenhower Republican, I SALUTE State Senator Schumacher for his integrity and dedication to his CONSTITUENCY in not kissing the ass of Marky Mark Fahleson and marching in locked goose-step with the rest of the mindless automaton NEGOP!!
If you had any sense of history, or even knowledge, Jim Mason, you would know that the true RINO’s are the Corporate bought and paid for elected officials who currently inhabit the State Capitol, Governor’s Mansion, County Boards and City and Village Councils all across this State.
Furthermore, IF you actually knew anything about history, you would know that the system that Nebraska and Maine use currently for allocating Electoral College votes USED to be the system that ALL states used until the late 19th-early 20th Centuries. At that time, thanks to the corrupting influence of Big Money, when one Party or another would gain a majority in the State Legislative bodies, they would vote to change the system to a WTA to ensure that that Party in power would remain so.
No, the system Nebraska has in place now suits me just fine. The people are represented by their vote, not the whims of Mark Fahleson. If Omaha disagrees on which candidate they want from outstate Nebraska’s choice, then that should be represented accordingly in the Electoral College. Otherwise, what’s the point in having a Popular Vote if it means nothing to the outcome?