Recent polling results present the possibility that Mitt Romney could win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote. Would this matter? It shouldn’t. We’ve seen this before, and it is not at all unusual for a President to be elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote, as some voters support third-party […]
Archive | Elections
Could Obama Benefit from Bush v. Gore?
Rick Hasen writes in Slate how Bush v. Gore‘s equal protection holding could benefit President Obama’s reelection effort, especially in Ohio. For years, voting rights advocates have tried to make lemonade from lemons, arguing that the Equal Protection holding of Bush v. Gore should apply more broadly to require equality and uniformity in conducting elections. Until recently, these […]
Are We More Likely to Get an Immigration Reform Bill if Obama Wins the Election?
In my post comparing Romney and Obama on libertarian grounds, I noted that libertarians might have good reason to support Obama if it is likely that a second term for him would result in substantial immigration reform, by which I mean letting more immigrants in the country and/or letting more of the ones already here […]
Libertarians and the Presidential Election
Reason has an interesting symposium on the presidential election in which various libertarian writers and political commentators give their presidential picks. In sharp contrast with Reason’s symposium during the 2008 election, there is almost no support for Obama. While many libertarians endorsed Obama four years ago, very few are willing to do so today. I […]
How Libertarians Are Voting
Back in 2008, Reason surveyed its contributors and fellow travelers about how they intended to vote, and quite a few said they would pull the switch for Barack Obama over libertarian candidate Bob Barr. Several said they weren’t voting and only a few mentioned John McCain. This year Reason has done it again, and the […]
Yet Another Debate that Ignores Judicial Nominations
After the first presidential debate and again after the debate between the VP candidates, I lamented the fact that the candidates and moderators had almost completely ignored judicial nominations. This is one of the areas where presidents have their biggest impact, and there are big differences between the two parties on a variety of major […]
Why the Presidential Race Should Not Ignore Judicial Nominations
In this post, I complained about the total lack of discussion of judicial nominations in last week’s presidential debate. Tonight’s vice presidential debate was only slightly better. The only mention of the courts was a brief reference by Joe Biden while discussing the issue of abortion. In reality, as I explained here, there are many […]
A Libertarian Perspective on Romney vs. Obama
In recent weeks, libertarians have been debating whether there’s any good reason for us to support Romney over Obama, or vice versa. In contrast to 2008, when many libertarians endorsed Obama, few if any are making the case for him this year. There is near-universal agreement among libertarian commentators that Obama’s presidency has done more […]
The Secret Ballot, and Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Signatures
The Gallaudet incident, in which a university administrator was suspended for signing a referendum petition related to same-sex marriage, leads me to bring up again what I mentioned before: Most of the reasons that support having a secret ballot — rather than the non-secret systems that were used in America throughout most of its first […]
Why the Presidential Debate Should Have Covered the Issue of Judicial Nominations
In this Politico post, I expanded on my recent VC post about dogs that didn’t bark during last night’s presidential debate. It was especially unfortunate that both candidates and the moderator completely ignored the issue of judicial nominations: [N]either of the candidates or the moderator even mentioned judicial nominations, even though this is one of […]
Dogs that Didn’t Bark in Tonight’s Presidential Debate
By Ilya Somin on October 3, 2012 11:22 pm in Elections, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Obama, Political Ignorance
In addition to Willow, there were two major dogs that didn’t bark during tonight’s presidential debate. First, even though the debate was supposed to focus on domestic policy, neither the moderator nor the candidates ever focused on some of the most important domestic issues on which the president can have a big impact: issues such […]
Retriever Debate Prep
Even as the presidential candidates get set for tonight’s debate, our 16 month-old golden retriever Willow is fully prepared for her very first presidential debate-watching experience:
Louisiana amendment to strengthen right to arms, on November ballot
By David Kopel on October 3, 2012 7:04 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Elections, Guns, Militia, Popular Constitutionalism, Right to carry, State Constitutional Law
In state elections, the most important vote this November will be in Louisiana. A referendum there would significantly strengthen protection of the right to keep and bear arms in the state, and would set a very significant national precedent. Before the Civil War, the Louisiana Constitution did not mention a right to arms. The Louisiana […]
Thoughts on Romney’s Remarks on “the 47 Percent” Who Will Vote for Obama “No Matter What”
Much cyber-ink has already been spilled over Mitt Romney’s May fundraiser statement dismissing the “47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what” because they don’t pay income taxes and depend on government benefits. In my view, Romney’s statement reflects a crude and and largely inaccurate view of voter motivation. […]
Obama’s Lead in the Polls is Not a Historical Anomaly
Ever since Obama established a narrow but clear edge in the polls after the Democratic Convention, conservative commentators such as Niall Ferguson, Andrew McCarthy, John Hinderaker, and Peter Robinson have claimed that this is an unusual historical anomaly explicable only by Romney’s poor campaign strategy or lack of personal appeal, or by some sort of […]