THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND FOX NOISE

Here's a what if. What if Mr. Mitt gets a slim majority of the popular vote but loses in the Electoral College? Given the current national and state poll numbers, this possibility is not that farfetched. As most know, Barack would then be the President because the Constitution, that hallowed document, works that way. Something the Founding Fathers cooked up to put a little distance between the rabble and the elite.

In the election of 2000, Al Gore actually won the popular vote, receiving over 500,000−a half million−more votes than W. But the Constitution's Electoral College−with an assist from a divided Supreme Court−made W the 43rd President of the United States. Except for a little grumbling from a few on the left side of the political spectrum, the result was accepted. It was what the Constitution mandated. It was the way the system worked.

But if the opposite result were to occur in 2012−the Democratic guy on the left winning in the Electoral College but receiving fewer popular votes than the Republican guy on the right−would the right be so accepting? In particular, would that nest of loony invective known as Fox Noise be as uncomplaining as it was twelve years ago?

One can envision four years of constant complaining about the minority President−hey, we're only referring to his coming in second in the popular vote. Honest. Actually, the folks at Fox Noise would secretly probably be pretty happy. After all, it's much more fun to whine, complain, and be the victim than to have the responsibilities that come with winning.