There is a video clip going around Facebook that actor Martin Sheen has directed with numerous entertainers that is imploring the states’ Republican presidential electors to place their votes other than with Trump-Pence.  Doing so would be directly counter to what the  people of their states have asked them to do.  Of course, it is just an ask in many states, since the electors of those states are not legally bound by the states’ popular vote. The clip rightfully points out that only 37 Republican electors need to step up and “…be heroes” (their words, not mine) for the good of the country by denying Trump-Pence at the electoral college level.   This would then shift the selection of the President to the House of Representatives.

The entertainers actually do tell part of the story accurately in my estimation.  The founding fathers of our country being noble, reasoned men themselves did not want demagogues to railroad an election.  The irony is that the entertainers are acting a lot like political demagogues themselves by appealing to “popular desires and prejudices” rather than by “rational arguments.”  Oh, and by the way, the electors of the states that voted for the Democrat ticket could take this as empowerment to vote for Trump-Pence.  After all, the Trump-Pence ticket so far in the President-elect stage and prior to the electoral college vote is really showing an openness to opposition ideas by talking seriously with serious people across the aisles and issues.

The switching electoral votes numbers are working against the Martin Sheen et al plan ever happening.  Of the 57 US Presidential elections in our country’s history, only 157 electors have voted against the popular vote majority in their states.  And, 29 + DC of the states in the US do bind their electors to the state’s popular vote.  Nevertheless, even with faithless electors (those who switch) being possible in the remaining states, this 157 total is on  average less than or equal to 3 faithless electors per election.  Another mitigating factor is that almost half of those faithless elector votes were because the candidate died before the electoral college vote. Apparently, faithless electors have affected the outcome of only one election in the history of the United States.  In that one case, the vote was sent to the US Senate to resolve, and the “shunned” candidate eventually won.  Therefore, the Martin Sheen et al proposal can happen, but the odds of it affecting the outcome of the electoral college vote are not favorable at all.

My hope and prayer is that we as a country unite as a people and engage with “all” of our elected officials. That doesn’t mean we must like or agree with them on all issues, but I think it does mean that we give them the benefit of the doubt until their actions prove they are not generally operating in the best interest of all the people of our country. As a president-elect, Donald Trump is operating counter to his campaign-mode persona. One example, his daughter Ivanka and he had a serious discussion with Al Gore about climate change. He is also changing his early tune about deporting 11 million illegal immigrants “overnight.”

In my opinion (and this has been my thought since early in the Republican primary season), Donald Trump is an entertainer and business man, not an ideologue, i.e., Republican or Democrat.  He is all about the art of the deal. Which basically means, say anything outrageous to put a stake in the ground and draw attention to the matter, but leave plenty of room to move to a reasonable position during the negotiations.