Picture this: President Bu$h and VP Edwards *jaw dropping*

[GreenPartyVoter]

WASHINGTON (AP) - One near-certainty in this election of many uncertainties is that if the Electoral College can't pick a winner, George W. Bush will stay in the White House. That's because the House of Representatives is and will probably remain in Republican hands.

The 12th Amendment, adopted in 1804 after the House took seven days in 1801 to break a tie and make Thomas Jefferson president, states that when there's no electoral vote majority, the House elects the president and the Senate the vice president.

In the 200 years since, what are called contingent elections have happened only twice: in 1825, when the House chose John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson after an election fragmented by third-party candidates, and in 1837, when the Senate settled a disputed vice-presidential race.

The odds are still good that Bush or John Kerry will secure 270 electoral votes, out of 538 cast, when the House and Senate meet in joint session on Jan. 6, 2005, to officially tally the results.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20041027/D85VR0KG0.html

[dave123williams]

1. Or, fighting will break out in the well...

[Snivi Yllom]

2. that would make for interesting politics

I cant imagine it would last long however.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. It didn't back in the day, which is why we stopped splitting the jobs

between opposing candidates.

[Bandit]

3. Why would it have to be Edwards? Why couldn't they pick Kerry

Bush* gets picked by House and Kerry by the Senate. It doesn't say the person had to actually run for the position does it?