Ani DiFranco and Iris DeMent each have lyrics that expand far beyond the relatively narrow scope that politics plays in the life of a human being. They also have some inspirational and poignant songs that add to our political discourse. Ani and Iris provide an opportunity to talk cyberlaw, ponder the move to a national popular vote and share some of their music.
“My country ‘tis of thee, To take shots at each other on primetime tv” – Ani, “‘Tis of Thee”
With election season in full swing, the flood of negative and misleading political ads (from all sides and SuperPACs) will soon drowned the airwaves . . . at least in swing states like Florida.
When I teach Cyberlaw, I include Porter v. Bowen, a Ninth Circuit case holding that vote-swapping is protected by the First Amendment and not a violation of criminal or electoral codes. Citizens formed a website whereby voters in safe states could swap their votes with voters in swing states. The purpose was to have the 2000 Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader, receive five percent of the national vote so that the Green Party would qualify for federal funds in future elections, without hurting Gore’s chances of winning the Electoral College.
For example, a voter in Ohio that wanted to vote for Nader would vote for Gore, while swapping her vote with voter in say, Alabama (a safe state for Bush) or Massachusetts (a safe state for Gore), who would vote for Nader. Shortly after this website began, at least one other website was created that allowed voters to swap votes for any third-party candidates with either Bush or Gore, thus expanding vote-swapping beyond Nader-Gore swaps.
I teach this case in Cyberlaw because, in addition to discussing how technological changes raise new legal questions, it also allows for a discussion on whether the Electoral College is something that remains desirable in our self-governing society. After all, if there was no Electoral College, there would be no need to engage in vote-swapping. While it’s hard not to forget that Gore won the national popular vote in 2000, it’s also worth noting that Obama’s “landslide” victory in 2008 was not so large when considering the national popular vote margin. Obama won 67.8 % of the Electoral College (365 to 173), but only 53% of the national popular vote. Does technology provide a reason to shift to a national popular vote?
Perhaps technological developments make a national popular vote system more practical than in the late eighteenth century. Whether one is in Wyoming or Washington D.C., real-time information is available through broadband, cable and radio. Is it not better for candidates to have an incentive to campaign in all fifty states by making every citizen's vote count in the final tally? Is it likely that voters on the losing end in a safe state might be more motivated to actually vote if they know it’s not in vain?
As I’m sure some here know, there is an organized movement for instituting a national popular vote. The plan involves a legislative pact among states to provide all the electoral votes of a state to the national popular vote winner. By December 2010, the District of Columbia and five states (Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington) have enacted legislation to implement the plan. Together, they make-up one quarter of the electoral votes needed to deliver an Electoral College victory. The plan will only be implemented once enough states have enacted legislation to win the Electoral College. The Brennan Center for Justice is listed among the endorsers of this national popular vote plan.
Here’s Ani performing a version of her 1999 song, ‘Tis of Thee, at Ralph Nader’s October 2000 Madison Square Garden campaign event. In the March 2012 issue of Relix magazine, Ani shared some of her thoughts on Obama’s performance thus far. While she may be critical of the lack of tangible changes, she makes an important, if obvious, point about how a self-governing society functions: “If he really felt, in this arena of dragons and monsters, that he had the force of the people behind him, he’d more empowered to act in the way that we want him to act. But we as people kicked back and said, ‘OK, fix it.’”
Turning to Iris DeMent, her 1996 song, Wasteland of the Free is one of my favorites. Sadly, its message has only grown more descriptive of our society as the years roll on.
Finally, in preparing this post, I stumbled across an organization called, Ladies of Liberty Alliance. The self-described mission of this organization is to “address the shortage of female leaders in the fight for liberty.” One has to think the organization’s founders have a sense of humor and musical acumen based on their clever acronym (LOLA) and domain name, www.iamlola.org. The “Chairman” (LOLA’s word), Angela Keaton, holds a J.D. from the University of Florida. While I have not explored the specifics of LOLA’s agenda, it certainly seems like a group of engaged citizens that will not leave any president alone in the arena of dragons and monsters.
p.s. The only endorsements in this post are for the respective music of Ani DiFranco & Iris DeMent.
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote, everywhere, would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections. No more distorting and divisive red and blue state maps. There would no longer be a handful of 'battleground' states where voters and policies are more important than those of the voters in more than 3/4ths of the states that now are just 'spectators' and ignored after the primaries.
The National Popular Vote bill now has passed 31 state legislative chambers in 21 states. The bill has been enacted by 9 jurisdictions possessing 132 electoral votes - 49% of the 270 necessary to go into effect.
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Posted by: oldgulph | May 04, 2012 at 12:56 PM
Thank you for the updated information, oldgulph!
Posted by: Joseph Tomain | May 04, 2012 at 01:36 PM