by K. Ryan James: Regnant populus - The State Motto of Arkansas.Ever since 2000, Democrats in flyover-country have been very vocal in trying to get rid of the Electoral College in favor of the national popular vote because they know their friends on the coasts have more than enough votes to counter-balance their misguided constituents who might vote for the other guy.
In Arkansas (McCain +20, Bush ‘04 +10, Bush ‘00 +5), it would seen that a rural Democrat is among those who think his people obviously can’t be trusted and must therefore cede the sovereignty of their vote to the national mob.
From PoliticsInArkansas, Rep. Monty Davenport (Very D - Yellville) is making a second run at this proposition:
An Arkansas lawmaker wants to do away with the Electoral College system.Davenport is joined by an expected cast of Democratic allies, including Rep. Eddie Cooper (Melboourne), Rep. Linda Tyler (Conway), and Sen. Terry Smith (Hot Springs). Surprisingly, one Republican is lined up as a co-sponsor in the Arkansas House: Rep. Andrea Lee (Russellville).
Arkansas would join Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland in passing the National Popular Vote bill under House Bill 1339 by Rep. Monty Davenport of Yellville. The national movement would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Constitution gives every state the power to allocate its electoral votes for president, as well as to change state law on how those votes are awarded. Arkansas is a winner-take-all state.
The National Popular Vote bill would take effect only after enough states possessing a majority of presidential electoral votes — that is to say 270 of 538 votes — enacted an identical form of the measure.
Arkansas has six electoral votes. The other states that have enacted the measure total 50 together.
This is troubling, as it appears that these members of the General Assembly - if they had their way - would have had no problem ignoring the people of Arkansas’s spectacular rejection of one Barack Hussein Obama and his liberal agenda.
Perhaps, these duly elected representatives of the people should get a refresher on how their constituents voted before this Senator and Representatives continue to move forward with the proposition of selling the people out.
Rep. Monty Davenport - D (unopposed in 2008)For the whole state (population ca. 2.8 million), 638,017 Arkansans voted for John McCain, giving him our state’s six Electoral Votes.
Represents all of Marion County, parts of Baxter, Boone, Searcy and Stone counties.Baxter: McCain 64.3%, Obama 32.7% Boone: McCain 68.3%, Obama 28.7% Marion: McCain 63.2%, Obama 33.3% Searcy: McCain 70.9%, Obama 25% Stone: McCain 66.4%, Obama 30%
Rep. Eddie Cooper - D (unopposed in 2008)
Represents all of Izard County, parts of Independence and Stone countiesIndependence: McCain 67.1%, Obama 30% Izard: McCain 61.2%, Obama 34.3% Stone: McCain 66.4%, Obama 30%
Rep. Linda Tyler - D (+12% in 2008)
Represents part of Faulkner CountyFaulkner: McCain 61.6%, Obama 36.3%
Rep. Andrea Lee - R (+10 in 2008)
Represents part of Pope County
To put this in perspective, in San Diego County, Calif. (population ca. 2.9 million), 632,207 voted for Barack Hussein Obama as part of the vote total which awarded him 55 Electoral Votes. As you can see, the sovereign votes of a entire state would have been nearly wiped out by the votes of a county if the national popular vote were the standard for electing presidents.
In Arkansas, the people rule, as per our motto. We need to remind our elected representatives of this, and contact Reps. Davenport, Cooper, Tyler and Lee, along with Sen. Smith, to tell them that we do not want to see our constitutionally guaranteed voice to elect a president suborned to a national popular vote where a county on the coast can negate our choice, our voice and our power as Arkansans. I urge you to avail yourself of this opportunity:
Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Monty Davenport happens to be my State Representative but has failed to represent our district with respect to the traditional values of our local citizens be they Democrats or Republicans. Last legislative session he introduced this same bill to take away Arkansas voice. it passed the House but was stopped in the Senate. One wonders why he would be the lead in stripping away Arkansas' voice. It is obvious from the above statistics presented by Ryan James that Davenport is more liberal than the voters in our counties and wishes to silence their voice in presidential elections.
The proposed bill is part of an agenda advanced by a group trying to do away with the traditional role of the Electoral College. If this bill becomes law, Arkansas' votes and influence in Presidential elections would have no real effect on the selection of a President. A group of States with large populations would control the Presidential elections. Our countries forefathers created several protections in the constitution to protect the smaller populated states: each state would have 2 senators and the president would be chosen by the Electoral College process verses by a general popular vote.
If other states go along with the plan, it could have changed the way the nation elects presidents. Legislatures in North Dakota and Montana have rejected the plan. The Colorado Senate approved the measure last month. The California Legislature endorsed the agreement last year, but the governor vetoed it. The Electoral College has performed its function for over 200 years ... by ensuring that the President of the U.S. has both sufficient popular support to govern and that his popular support is sufficiently distributed throughout the country to enable him to govern effectively. ... Proposals to abolish the Electoral College, though frequently put forward, have failed largely because the alternatives to it appear more problematic than is the College itself. The fact that the Electoral College was originally designed to solve one set of problems but today serves to solve an entirely different set of problems is a tribute to the genius of the Founding Fathers." William C. Kimberling, Deputy Director, FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration.
Call to Action: Arkansas' electoral votes may be small but they are so important that presidential candidates and their campaigns must consider Arkansas voters. If this bill becomes law, presidential candidates will be able to ignore Arkansas entirely. It will not matter to them which way Arkansas votes as long as they win the larger populated areas in the U.S.. Why surrender our "minority" voice that was so wisely protected for us by our forefathers? Please contact your State Senator and ask them to protect the voice of Arkansas by voting NO on HB 1339. See Also: U.S. Electoral College and The Pro's and Con's of the Electoral College System Note: Prior post.
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