American history has a few unique moments of upheaval, where the norms had to be set aside and a deal had to be reached to ensure the country could continue on track.
There is a chance that we may be reading about the Compromise of 2017 in history books in the future.
What previous Compromises has our nation experienced? A nice diary of some of them can be found here: www.dailykos.com/… The Compromise of 1877 is particularly relevant.
Right now, electors, calling themselves the Hamilton Electors, are organizing an effort against Donald Trump, attempting to persuade their fellow Republican electors to abandon him. Two have resigned over the last few months and will be replaced, but one has bravely stepped out to publicly announce his vote of conscience (www.nytimes.com/...). Reportedly the Hamilton Electors have been in touch with more who have not yet revealed their identities, understandably.
These are unusual circumstances. While still unlikely, it’s just possible that enough of these otherwise loyal GOP electors realize how dangerous Trump is to the country and will act to deny him the Presidency at their level. Assuming that the Democratic electors and enough Republican electors would be unable to agree on a single consensus ticket—which seems even more unlikely—the election will be sent to Congress.
The conventional wisdom is that Congress = GOP, so Trump will win. But this is short-sighted thinking.
Congress is where Compromises happen.
In an election that goes to the Congress, the House of Representatives would choose between Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and the top 3rd vote-getter in the Electoral College for President. Meanwhile, the Senate would choose between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence for Vice President (unless the 3rd compromise ticket managed to get 2nd place; Top 3 Presidential candidates, top 2 Vice Presidential candidates).
Each state delegation gets just one vote. That means the state delegation has to agree on that one vote.
Trump has a lot of support among the Republican party, at least out of fear of the wrath of their base. But we also know this support is not unanimous. John McCain showed that it was possible to buck Trump and still win. Many of Trump’s own voters found him unfit. Since each state delegation gets only a single vote, staunch Trump supporters may find themselves diluted, faced with having to make deals with their colleagues, both Republican and Democratic. And of course, they are our representatives, subject to direct pressure from us.
This is where deals can be made. Imagine a ticket of the 3rd Republican and Tim Kaine. Or perhaps Clinton and the 3rd Republican. Or maybe Clinton/Kaine would be allowed in exchange for a more conservative supreme court pick for Scalia’s seat and some other legislative and policy concessions. It would help here if Democrats fought like hell about Clinton winning the popular vote and pushing just how narrow Trump’s nominal electoral victory would have been.
Of course, everyone and their mother in D.C. seems to be on the “accept and unify” train, to the detriment of all, so maybe that is wishful thinking.
And unfortunately, true deal making seems less possible these days due to the partisanship and high visibility to the public of such proceedings. Compromise is the “dirty word” of the last decade, especially among Republicans, and many other prior attempts to compromise have failed at the hands of the Tea Party and Republican leadership’s cowardice.
But if individuals like John McCain and Lindsay Graham still have grave concerns over Trump, perhaps all is not lost. They would have a window to help lead a historic Compromise of 2017, to put country first and take action to unify instead of just hoping for it.
Will it happen? I wouldn’t bet on it. But we shouldn’t dismiss it out of hand, either. Grand compromises have happened before, and they can happen again. This is our country too, dammit. Don’t give up until it is official, and even then keep fighting.