Colorado Dreamin'

Bill Whalen at the Weekly Standard has a great article on Colorado's Amendment 36. Although he is behind on the RMA on this issue (BestDestiny and View From a Height have been all over it), it is great to see some national attention focused on this really stupid idea.

Whalen gives a good breakdown of how the passage of this Amendment could backfire on Kerry:

Start by assuming that Kerry wins the same 20 states that Gore carried four years ago. That leaves him with 260 votes in the realigned Electoral College, to Bush's 278. Now, let's assume that Kerry adds New Hampshire to his column, which is another 4 electoral votes. The count then would be 274-264, Bush. Give Kerry Colorado and its 9 electoral votes and he wins the presidency, 273-265. But not if the reform initiative passes.

Instead of the winner-take-all 9 votes, Kerry would receive only 5 electoral votes, to Bush's 4 (this is assuming Ralph Nader doesn't have enough of a presence to pick up 1 electoral vote) . That would evenly divide the Electoral College at 269-apiece, leaving the U.S. House of Representatives to break the tie. As the House is likely to remain in GOP hands, Bush likely gets a second term and Democrats get to mutter "we wuz robbed" for another four years.

Not that any Democrats would ever allow this to happen. Chances are the initiative would face a legal challenge--not from Republicans who currently oppose it, but from national Democrats who'd sue their Colorado brethren in hopes of overturning the measure and giving Kerry the extra 4 electoral votes.

A quick Google search yields no results for a website for Coloradans Against a Really Stupid Idea. I think it is time to get a web presence around the opposition to this idea.