Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Mo' Irony

Michael Scherer tries to unseat Joek Lein as Chief Chucklehaid at Time:

My question is this: Just eight years after George W. Bush gained the White House by losing the popular vote and winning the Electoral College [sic], isn't it a bit ironic that Hillary Clinton is arguing for Democrats to focus not on the popular vote but on the Electoral College?

Google has the answer. If you search for "hillary clinton electoral college," the first result is an article from November 10, 2000, "Hillary Clinton Calls For End to the Electoral College." As Clinton said at the time, "I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people and to me, that means it's time to do away with the Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president."

Senator Clinton urges Democrats to follow a strategy which would allow them to win the White House, as opposed to one that would result in a Republican presidency. At the same time, she urges Democrats to compete based on the electoral system which actually exists, as opposed to the one she prefers, but which doesn't exist. That is some delicious irony. I'm actually shivering!

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