That darn 12th Amendment!

"We could see the birth pangs of these other factions rising this year during the Democrat and Republican primaries. 'Coalesce' has turned into bifurcate, trifurcate or something beyond."

Someone this weekend had referred to the election as the "plug your nose" election. For many people on the left side of the street, they are not thrilled with their candidate. And the same is true for the right side of the street with their candidate. I will say it. We have two deeply, deeply flawed candidates running for the office of President. If either one wins, there is a chance of an unmitigated disaster. Or, if Donald Trump wins, there is also a chance he could be good to very good. But that is a long shot. With Hillary Clinton, it is a "no shot at all".

Some have already heard this mentioned. It would be a seldom used remedy, which is clearly spelled out in our Constitution. It is another way to pick our next President. It has already been used in 1825 (yes, that long ago). It is a fail safe provision which was stuck into Article 12 of the Constitution. It was meant to keep the nation from calling a "tie" in any Presidential election.

When I say "tie", I mean where no candidate receives the necessary 270 electoral votes. Should that happen like it did in 1825, the House of Representatives would pick the next President. If that should happen, and because we have so many low to no information voters these days, the cry of "Foul!" will rise from the huddled masses faster than smoke from burning leaves. 

Is this just a long shot scenario, or could it really happen today? My response - not just today, but more and more likely in the near future. For example, this morning the ABC tracking pole, which just a week ago gave a double digit lead to Clinton, has the race within one point. That is dead even, since the margin of error is 3%.

Picture this for a minute. The race remains razor thin up to election day. The votes are taken, and the popular vote is as tight as the 2000 election was. The electoral votes are counted and the results are as follows: Clinton 268, Trump 264, and McMullin 6 (he wins Utah). Since Evan McMullin has a real possibility to win Utah, this scenario is indeed realistic.

But forget this year for just a minute, and look towards the future. I have heard many pundits mention this from both sides of the aisle. Our two party system might be going the way of the Dodo Bird. In other words, we might be morphing into a multi-party system. Liberal Democrats, Progressives, Socialists, Conservative Republicans, Consitutionalists, and Moderates. We could see the birth pangs of these other factions rising this year during the Democrat and Republican primaries. "Coalesce" has turned into bifurcate, trifurcate or something beyond.

Buckle up folks. And keep your eyes on the news this week. This week could tell the tale of the tape. We could be on the precipice of something scary and/or historic. I believe our county will land safely once this election is over, but it could be a bumpy landing indeed.