The outcome of the midterm elections tomorrow remains to be seen, but Democrats, including Vox’s Ezra Klein, are already getting the talking points ready just in case (beverage warning):
I don't think people are ready for the crisis that will follow if Democrats win the House popular vote but not the majority.
After Kavanaugh, Trump, Garland, Citizens United, Bush v. Gore, etc, the party is on the edge of losing faith in the system (and reasonably so).
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) November 5, 2018
Um, that’s… something else.
I have been in politics a pretty long time and this is the first intance I've ever seen the term "House popular vote" used.
I'm not sure that's how voting for Representatives works…? https://t.co/XFclPi0ijY
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) November 5, 2018
House popular vote is not a thing. It's just not. If Democrats are losing faith in the system it might be because they don't understand the system. https://t.co/MDcxBrsJVb
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) November 5, 2018
Presidential popular vote isn't a thing either but at least in that case the "popular" vote is for those specific candidates. In this case, Democrats win landslides in some districts while Republicans win the contested races by only a little and this is somehow a problem?
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) November 5, 2018
Does he… Does he know there's no Electoral College for House races? https://t.co/4DctOn6zUJ
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) November 5, 2018
Recommended
Try not to interrupt Klein with relevant questions while he’s prepping the Dem post-election spin.
Will you be ok, Ezra?
— Torrey M. Spears ?? (@torreymspears) November 5, 2018
We don’t think so.
Ahhhh, the Voxosphere pinches off another jewel about the omnipotent popular vote. https://t.co/jVIeyuZiJ2
— Cuffy (@CuffyMeh) November 5, 2018
In the last 34 elections, the winner of the House "popular vote" (which isn't really a thing, but that's another issue for another day) has lost seats in 15 of those elections. It's an entirely common occurrence which is a feature, not a bug of our system. https://t.co/gCjDNvKV1d
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 5, 2018
1. There is no such thing as a House Popular vote.
2. If 4 people in TX1 vote for Congressman, and 300k in CA1, doesn't change the fact that Rep still represents about 700k people, either way.
3. Also, CA Top 2 Primary rules makes this entire discussion convoluted. https://t.co/WWG74fzimD— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D., M.S. (@Neoavatara) November 5, 2018
House popular vote. LOL.
— Strange Dr. Weird (@MetricButtload) November 5, 2018
Democrats better win or Democracy Died! https://t.co/4YxijpR5MB
— NewsBusters (@newsbusters) November 5, 2018
We’ll have to see what happens tomorrow. Just in case, get the oxygen and smelling salts ready.
There is no such thing as "the House popular vote." But it's not surprising, considering the other examples given, that Klein believes the system is only working when it has the results that please him. https://t.co/2xBqSkKEB2
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) November 5, 2018
Speaking of that, a pattern has been documented:
Just going to leave this here: https://t.co/5r8G7GNl8z
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 5, 2018
Pretty much every Ezra Klein tweet follows this pattern: "[Institution] must be [changed in particular way] because [it isn’t doing what I want]. And I’m not a hypocrite because [a recent study I’ve played with] changes everything/[I’m using a different word this time]."
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) July 10, 2018
Amazing.
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) November 5, 2018
It really is.