• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Electoral Leverage: Florida Has it and Alabama Lacks it

by DC Editors - May 22, 2012

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin
Florida Electoral Leverage
Florida and Alabama Coast as it Used to be Known

Would Alabama Voters Benefit From the Electoral Leverage Provided by National Popular Vote Plan? | Democracy, elections, and voting at Democracy Chronicles

Electoral Leverage: Florida has it and Alabama lacks it

Author: Rich Rubino

They border each other, yet when it comes to electoral influence, no two states could be farther apart. On the west of the Perdido River lies Alabama. The Yellowhammer State was once part of the Solid South, having voted for the Democratic Presidential nominee every year from 1876 to 1964. It is now a Republican citadel, handily electing the Republican Presidential nominee every year since 1980. Consequently, no Presidential nominee has even campaigned in the state since 1996. Accordingly, the state is designated by Presidential campaigns as a “safe state” and has no electoral leverage.

Infamous Ballot From Florida's 2000 Election Fiasco
Infamous Ballot From Florida’s 2000 Election Fiasco

To the east of the Perdido River lies the electoral Ground Zero: Florida. The Sunshine state is arguably the most critically important battleground state in the nation. No Republican has won the Presidency since Calvin Coolidge in 1924 without carrying the Sunshine state. The result is that Florida shapes the political debate and has a disproportionate influence on setting the political agenda in Washington.

In 2000, both Major Party Presidential nominees, Al Gore and George W. Bush, made adding a Prescription Drug benefit to Medicare their flagship domestic issue. Florida has the largest share of voters over the age of 65 and Prescription Drug coverage was extremely popular with this important constituency. As President, Mr. Bush broke with contemporary Republican fiscal austerity orthodoxy, and put out a full-court press to shepherd The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act into law. This statute is the largest expansion of an entitlement program since Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.

Furthermore, despite polls showing a majority of Americans favor restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, Presidential candidates are forced to pledge allegiance to the 50-year-old economic embargo on Cuba because the preponderance of the Cuban-American Community in Florida (especially older Cuban-Americans) strongly support the embargo.

As President, Barack Obama has already visited Florida 16 times. Republican Nominee Mitt Romney predictably will deploy redoubtable resources into the state and make innumerable visits. The state’s Junior U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio, and its former Governor Jeb Bush are speculated as top-tier Vice Presidential selections, chiefly because of their potential to deliver the Sunshine State for Romney. Florida’s economy will likely get a significant economic boost from the entourage of both candidates.

To the west of the Perdido River lies a completely different picture. With Alabama solidly Republican, Presidential nominees see no need to take the concerns of Alabama voters seriously. Campaign tacticians calculate a strategy to win the election based upon appealing to voters in only about 15 swing states, and Alabama does not come close to making the list of states for Presidential campaigns to target. Contrariwise, Florida is at the top of that list. The result is that while the campaigns microtarget constituencies in Florida, they ignore the entire state of Alabama. Once in office, the President, with an eye toward re-election, must focus on the needs of the Sunshine State.

Alabamans are suffering from the economic malaise, yet their voices have little resonance with Presidential candidates. Neither Presidential candidate is likely to visit the state, despite the fact that the state is suffering from a poverty rate of over 17%, and is 49th in the nation in infant mortality. Yet, these are all issues not likely to be addressed merely because of Alabama’s disadvantageous geopolitical position.

There is one way to give voters in Alabama the seat at the electoral table they deserve. That is by adopting the National Popular Vote Plan. The National Popular Vote Plan is an interstate compact, whereby participating states agree to allocate their electoral votes to the winner of the National Popular Vote, as opposed to the candidate who secures the most votes in their state. The compact would take effect when enough states (constituting the requisite 270 electoral votes required to win the Presidential election) agree to participate. Currently eight states and the District of Columbia, constituting 132 Electoral votes, have ratified the compact.

Unfortunately, there is concerted opposition to the Plan by Alabama’s high command, including Secretary of State Beth Chapman. She says it is an “end-run around the Constitution.” This is not true. In actuality, there is no provision in the U.S. Constitution mandating that the President must be selected by a particular electoral method. Accordingly, there is absolutely no need for a Constitutional Amendment to change the method that states use for the awarding of electors. The Founding Fathers could not arrive at a resolution as to how to award electoral votes at the Constitutional Convention. Given this impasse, they decided to delegate “plenary authority” to the states to award their electors, as reflected in Article ll, Section 1, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution, which states: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors.” Accordingly, each state has autonomy to select electors in any way that it deems fit.

The National Popular Vote Plan would make every vote equal. With adoption of the plan, Presidential nominees will no longer have an incentive to treat Florida voters like royalty and Alabama voters like serfs. Under the National Popular Vote Plan, a vote in Decatur, Alabama will no longer be less valuable than a vote in Decatur, Florida.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/electoral-leverage-florida-has-it-and-alabama-lacks-it-5914606.html

About the Author

Rich Rubino, of Marblehead, MA, is the author of the newly published book, The Political Bible of Little Known Facts in American Politics. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Communications (Media Track) from Assumption College and an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Emerson College.

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: Democracy in America Tagged With: American State Elections, Election Methods, Electoral College, Proportional Representation

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | AMERICA | Electoral Leverage: Florida Has it and Alabama Lacks it

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

A New Approach To Breaking Our Media Silos

By Jenna Spinelle August 12, 2022

It’s no secret that there’s a partisan divide in the media, but thus far, solutions to bridge that divide have been few and far between.

Carmel’s Cautionary Tale for Post-Roe America

By Joe Mathews August 10, 2022

The lesson is about… the human horrors of letting judges, or anyone else, determine our rights on the basis of history – especially when history omits so much.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

New Tech Helps Citizens Audit The Vote

By Steve Schneider August 9, 2022

Rebuilding trust in our democracy would require high-quality verification in the form of audits that will stand up in the court of public opinion.

2022: Year Of Radical Change For Camp Lejeune Justice

By Andrew Straw August 4, 2022

Indiana has been a purple state dominated and oppressed by Republicans who stack every deck in their own favor, all three branches.

Here At The Crossroads, To Lead Or Be Led

By Jack Jones August 1, 2022

We will only have a chance to save our imperiled democracy if we work to reverse discriminatory laws like Citizens United.

Laboratories Against Democracy

By Jenna Spinelle July 25, 2022

Jake Grumbach’s book “Laboratories against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics” is out now from Princeton University Press.

Mass Shootings: Time To Ramp Up Citizen Action

By Jack Jones July 20, 2022

Those controlling the levers of power need to be confronted on these issues and made uncomfortable enough so that they can act.

Harnessing The Power Of “We The People” On Independence Day

By Jenna Spinelle July 3, 2022

Democracy does not have a singular definition, which is one of the things that makes it so interesting to me — and undoubtedly to many of you.

Florida Doesn’t Need a Speech Czar

By Steve Schneider June 28, 2022

Full disclosure: I’m a liberal Democrat. So, I won’t be sending in my vote-by-mail ballot for Ron DeSantis in November. Nor will I vote for him in 2024.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

New Quarter Will Honor Activist Who Fought For Women’s Voting

New Quarter Will Honor Activist Who Fought For Women’s Voting

July 28, 2022

A Latina suffragette and one of New Mexico’s first female officials during the 20th century will have her image stamped on the US quarter.

Magnum Photographers Challenged To Picture Swiss Democracy

Magnum Photographers Challenged To Picture Swiss Democracy

July 6, 2022

Magnum photographers accustomed to exploring crisis regions have been challenged to capture the quiet operation of Swiss democracy.

India: Why Are Punjab Political Singers Under Attack?

India: Why Are Punjab Political Singers Under Attack?

June 8, 2022

The murder of Sidhu Moose Wala has brought attention to the link between Punjabi music and India’s cross-border criminal networks.

University Educated Less Likely To Endorse Authoritarianism

University Educated Less Likely To Endorse Authoritarianism

June 4, 2022

Higher education is now seen as a new political cleavage, with level of education increasingly important in describing political attitudes.

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

May 25, 2022

The atmosphere in the interstate polling booth in Sydney’s inner east resembled that of an emergency room waiting for a donor organ.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy