Filing deadlines, how do they work?
While Democrats have been doing just about every nefarious thing possible to keep Donald Trump off the ballot in some states, Presidentish Joe Biden's campaign is having trouble following the established law to get their man on the ballot in Ohio.
According to a report in Sunday's Washington Post, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office has informed "Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters that the Democratic National Committee’s nominating convention is scheduled too late for Biden to make the Ohio ballot."
The law requires nominees to be certified at least 90 days before the general election, and Biden won't become the official nominee until the Democrats hold their convention in Chicago — less than 90 days before the general election. Biden will miss the deadline by 12 days.
Maybe you think I'm making this up because it seems too strange to be real. I mean, Democrats eat, breathe, and sleep the nuts and bolts of elections — how did they forget a little thing like making sure they'd crossed the T's and dotted the I's to get Biden's name on the ballot in one of the biggest states in the country?
The Dems have 2 options, neither of which seems appealing.
— Zachary Hayes (@ZHayes2024) April 7, 2024
1. Move their convention up two weeks. A logistical nightmare.
2. Have the Ohio Legislature pass an exemption. With GOP control, how likely is that? They’ll tell Biden to pound sand.
This could happen.
Nobody is moving the convention. Doing so is beyond a logistical nightmare; it's virtually impossible. It's just a big, steaming bowl of Not Gonna Happen. If I had to guess, some kind of deal will get struck between the DNC and Columbus, and "Biden-Harris" will appear on the ballot.
But that's just a guess. Given the scorched-earth approach Democrats have taken in recent election cycles, I wouldn't be at all surprised if LaRose said to the Democrats, "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Here's the thing, though — it doesn't matter.
Biden was never going to win Ohio, on or off the ballot. Trump was never going to win Colorado, making it a bit of a mystery to those of us who aren't clinically insane why Colorado's hard-left Millennial Secretary of State would turn herself into a national laughingstock trying to keep him off the ballot here.
So here is your Modest VodkaPundit Proposal™ of the Week.
As discussed in this campaign season's first edition of Wargaming the Electoral College, we have maybe nine swing states this election, drawn most broadly. They are Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona.
That leaves 39 states that could and ought to be left alone. No TV ads, no mailers, no protests, no nothing. If I had my way, the various nightly news shows would have different broadcasts for Election States and Non-Election States. The beauty of federalism is that the national government is supposed to leave us alone about most things. Maybe national candidates should, too.
So, let's hold the election in just those states, shall we? And leave the rest of us blessedly alone. Please?
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