Balance of Power in question . . . . (USA Political situation)

[race aficionado]

Interesting turn in USA politics system.
The interesting note is that the State that this Democratic Senator represents has a Republican as its Governor and he has the legal right to choose a replacement: and of course he would choose a Republican!

Is this fair game really? legally it is but morally it is not. The USA Citizens chose the democratic majority and now this unfortunate incident could change the balance of power back to 50/50 and Chaynee being the tie braker.

Nothing is decided yet, this is speculation only but the health conditions of senator Johnson as of now are critical

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/south-dakota-senator-undergoes-surgery/20061213164209990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
_________
South Dakota Senator Undergoes Surgery
Johnson's Condition May Impact Balance of Power in Senate

Apart from the risk to his health, Johnson's illness carried political ramifications. Democrats emerged from last month's elections with a 51-49 Senate majority. If he were forced to relinquish his seat, a replacement would be named by South Dakota's GOP Gov. Mike Rounds.

A Republican appointee would create a 50-50 tie, and allow the GOP to retain Senate control.

[Daniel]

Strange system I have to say......

Hope he gets better and it's not an issue :)

[race aficionado]

Strange system I have to say......

Hope he gets better and it's not an issue :)

strange indeed.
and yes, I hope he recuperates and that this is seen as an opportunity to change that replacement procedure.

[Daniel]

Maybe it's just me but some aspects of the American political system are just a bit strange and there are some bits which were obviously written without thinking that someone would try to abuse the system.

[cdn_grampa]

Maybe it's just me but some aspects of the American political system are just a bit strange and there are some bits which were obviously written without thinking that someone would try to abuse the system.


Rude Pundit (http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2006/12/tim-johnson-hes-gotta-serve-even-if.html)

[airshifter]

I just hope the guy lives. It's just now getting to being able to watch the news after the elections!

[DocF225]

In most states, the "replacement" would be "pro tem" (onlyuntil the next election cycle) and not for the balance of the 6 year term.

The Voters of the state can also call for a special election if the state legislature can get that together.

[Eki]

Maybe it's just me but some aspects of the American political system are just a bit strange and there are some bits which were obviously written without thinking that someone would try to abuse the system.
Exactly. It's strange that there even is a possibility for the election to end up in a tie. When the Finnish president was elected by electorates instead of direct votes, there were 301 electorates instead of 300 to be elected so a tie was impossible.

[race aficionado]

I think it is just wrong that the Governor of the State would choose a replacement based on the political affiliation of his preference - and in this case the governor is a Republican, ergo he will choose someone who shares his political views.

There are two other options:

In fairness to what the people chose and voted for, his replacement should be of the same political affiliation as the senator that won the election and that in turn helped turn the tide in the Senate Mayority.

Or better yet - to go more with the actual qualifications of the candidate and not their affiliation, there should be another election where the voters of that State can choose their State representative in their countries governmental body. This way if the people choose Republican or Democrat, so be it, it would be the democratic way.

All this I write as I pray for the senators good health and also for the country to hopefully realize that we have to change this truncated replacement procedure.

[GruppoB]

Pray to god that at least he doesnt die. Becuase if he aint dead ittl be harder for them to do anything.

[tstran17_88]

I think it is just wrong that the Governor of the State would choose a replacement based on the political affiliation of his preference - and in this case the governor is a Republican, ergo he will choose someone who shares his political views.I think it's wrong that whacko Nancy Pelosi is two bullets away from becoming President of the United States, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

But ya'll are getting your undies in a bunch. If the Repub's control the Senate again, it's only half of the equation since the Dem's still control the House. It'll be like when Clinton was prez and the Repub's controlled congress...nothing got done. Which I'd view as a good thing since the Dem's are planning on taking away any tax breaks we currently have.