'Rich'
It's rich hearing people complain about Democrats' dishonesty when the Republicans nominated a pathological liar.
Adrian Fields
Hood River
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Electoral college needs changing
President-elect Donald Trump is claiming a special mandate by winning the popular vote, though only by a little more than 2 million (1.5%; and getting below 50% of total popular vote) compared to President Joe Biden’s winning margin of about 7 million (4%; 51%) over Trump in 2020.
If the electoral college had already been scrapped, would the popular vote have been significantly changed by the candidates campaigning in all states, not just battleground ones?
Why did Washington State have its lowest turnout in 28 years? Why were California’s and Oregon’s also historically low ("California's Voter Turnout Sank in 2024," Public Policy Institute of California, Nov. 18, 2024; "Oregon voter turnout trails historic levels," oregonlive.com, Nov. 19, 2024)? With the electoral college in force, did Democrats who vote only in presidential elections, historically more numerous than their Republican counterparts, stay home in reliably-blue Washington — and other such states like California and Oregon? Notably, California supplied most of Hillary Clinton’s almost 3 million popular vote margin over Trump in 2016.
Constitutional amendment is one avenue to scrapping the electoral college but isn’t the only one. Some states have already passed legislation triggering all of their presidential electoral votes going to the national popular vote winner once enough states totaling at least 270 electoral votes passes this legislation. States not yet on board totaling at least 61 more electoral votes are needed. Washington, California and Oregon have already passed this. States considered most likely to join anew are Virginia, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina ("Map shows where effort to replace Electoral College stands," CBS News, Oct. 3, 2024).
Norm Luther
Spokane
Check your facts
A person wrote a letter to the editor claiming the saying Trump lies was not confirmed! Well, it has been:
Fact-checkers from The Washington Post, the Toronto Star and CNN compiled data on "false or misleading claims" and "false claims," respectively. The peaks corresponded in late 2018 to the midterm elections, in late 2019 to his impeachment inquiry, and in late 2020 to the presidential election. The Post reported 30,573 false or misleading claims in four years, an average of more than 20.9 per day.
Take your own advice and check your facts. We have a liar, cheat, convicted felon and unethical person going to the White House.
No! "All politicians lie" is not true! Most do their best to not knowingly do such.
S. Michael Carlson
Tygh Valley
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