NRCC Chairman No Fan of Pennsylvania Republican Electoral Scheme

[blue neen]

"Rep. Pete Sessions, chairman of the House Republicans campaign arm, said Thursday he is no fan of a proposal to overhaul the way Pennsylvania awards its votes in the Electoral College."

"Keystone GOP leaders want the battleground state, which has gone Democratic in the past five presidential elections, to divvy up its 20 votes in the Electoral College according to the winner of each congressional district, rather than the winner-take-all system used by all but two states. In theory, it could allow Republicans to win the majority of Pennsylvania electoral votes even if they lose the popular vote. That’s because many of Pennsylvania’s rural congressional districts are heavily Republican."

"The problem: Since statewide vote totals would no longer matter, Republicans worry Democrats will move campaign efforts out of safe Democratic districts in urban population centers and into the more moderate suburbs. That could put extra heat on GOP House candidates."

read more at:

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/09/15/pete-sessions-pa-electoral-college-change-would-put-house-races-at-risk/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fwashwire%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Washington+Wire%29

[blue neen]

1. The Republicans could really screw themselves by passing this in PA.

"Things could become particularly troubling for suburban Philadelphia Reps. Jim Gerlach, Pat Meehan and Mike Fitzpatrick, three Republicans whose districts went Democratic in the last two presidential elections, Politico reported this week."

"Mr. Meehan’s spokeswoman said the congressman is opposed to a switch."

If this is being reported in the Wall Street Journal and Politico, then national Republicans really must not like it!

[blue neen]

2. Tell the Republicans to Stop Their Partisan Presidential Power Grab in Pennsylvania

Sign the Petition, please.

http://www.padems.com/petition/tell-republicans-stop-their-partisan-presidential-power-grab-pennsylvania

Thanks.

:dem:

[Marsala]

3. Yeah, the proposal is toast

The Republicans are excellent at uniting around messages, no matter how awful the message is. If they are this split on it, the proposal will never pass. The Republicans in the Penn. legislature will be too afraid of voter backlash.