Use the terms properly, please

I don't want to come across as pedantic or anything, but you DO know Mr Obama is not "President-elect Obama" yet, don't you? So, stop calling him that.

He is not "President-elect Obama" until he is elected. And so far, he hasn't been. All that we have elected so far are electors. The electors elect him, and they will do that next Monday, December 15. After they have met and cast their votes, THEN you can call him "President-elect Obama."

And the electors can vote for whomever they want to vote for. Even in states that impose penalties on electors who do not cast their vote for the presidential candidate they were pledged to vote for when they were elected elector, the electors can still vote for whomever they want and then take their punishment. (In Washington, it's a $1000 fine.)

It is just this kind of imprecision, calling him "President-elect" now, that confuses people about how our President is elected. So, remember: The people do not choose the President, the sovereign states choose the President, through the mechanism of the Electoral College. And no one is "President-elect" until after the electors meet in the state capitals and cast their votes.

(Although they don't have their schedule for Monday up yet, I am sure C-SPAN will cover a sample of the meetings of electors, as they have in previous years.)

Posted: Thu - December 11, 2008 at 02:53 PM

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Use the terms properly, please

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