Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words

As Evan McMullin Threatens to Take Utah, Donald Trump Notices

Trump Calls McMullin "Bill Kristol's Puppet" on Twitter. Major party candidates usually ignore third party candidates

Republican Donald Trump has seen it necessary to call out Independent conservative candidate Evan McMullin. Former CIA agent McMullin is the darling of conservatives in Christian, Mormon, family oriented Utah. He is polling in the high 20's or low 30's, approximately even with Trump and with Democrat Hillary Clinton. This is almost unheard of in American presidential contests (though the results in New Mexico are somewhat similar, if you substitute in Gary Johnson for McMullin).

It's been decades since an independent candidate for President took a US State. But then again, that was before the age of Twitter. "You saw this coming. Trump and Pence finally go after @Evan_McMullin. Trump calls him @BillKristol's puppet," said @Sopandeb

If McMullin (and his Vice Presidential candidate, Mindy Finn) take the State of Utah, and he might, he could deny either major party candidate 270 electoral votes, throwing the 2016 Presidential election into the House of Representatives. The Senate would decide the VP. In both cases, they would be limited to the top 3 candidates in terms of electoral votes.

http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/10/30/politics/evan-mcmullin-may-win-utah-throw-presidential-election-to-the-house-of-representatives/2115.html This is not just my opinion. CNBC says:

With recent polls in the heavily Mormon state showing a decisive swing to McMullin, Trump used an appearance on Fox News to dismiss the independent candidate as "a puppet" being manipulated by The Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, a "Never Trump" Republican, who has tried for months to field an independent candidate to take on the GOP nominee.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/30/trump-hits-independent-candidate-mcmullin-as-puppet-draws-fiery-response.html

McMullin, no doubt thrilled that Trump had noticed him, too to Twitter to label Trump as an "authoritarian" and a "big government liberal."

.@realDonaldTrump, Yes you've never heard of me because while you were harassing women at beauty pageants, I was fighting terrorists abroad. https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/792539432108773376 ... 7:45 PM - 29 Oct 2016

Analysts are considering a scenario where McMullin takes Utah with its 7 electoral votes, and Johnson takes New Mexico, with it's 5. The lack of those 12 electoral votes, could force the House of Representatives to choose among the top 3 candidates for President, and the Senate to choose among the top 3 candidates for Vice President. McMullin as President and Tim Caine as Vice President? It's not beyond the realm of possibility, under the procedures set forth in the Constitution when the Electoral College cannot agree.

 
 

Reader Comments(1)

j1k writes:

Amazing a candidate that has physical discipline, former Seal with the mental discipline to rise to this level and a Mindy with digital media background. Wow. I just bet this VP Finn will have enough email knowledge not to set up an unsecured server and then joke publicly about her lack of ability to understand bleaching or wipinp her screen. i had to go to trump...no way could vote for 16 years of democrat party platform...but if McMullin and Finn were on my ballot,,,i would vote for Evan McMullin and Mindy Finn.