December 19, 2016 09:15 AM UTC

Gardner: Don't Riot Over The Electoral College, You Dirty Hippies

• 6 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Deep in a TV news wire story out of Washington this weekend, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner implores the so-called “Hamilton Electors,” and anybody else who might be considering a vote other than the one they are pledged to cast in today’s usually pro forma official vote of the College to formally elect Donald Trump President of the United States, to knock it off for the good of the nation:

The last-ditch effort to block Trump is exploding online, with a Change.org petition signed by millions and a website listing the addresses of 284 of the electors.

Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) says this isn’t helping to promote a peaceful transition of power.

“Whether or not your person won, the person that you voted for, you shouldn’t be rioting in the street as a result, but working together to unify this country so we can all prosper over the next four years,” Gardner said. [Pols emphasis]

How likely is the Electoral College to snub Trump? Based on the numbers, 38 Republican electors would need to flip their votes to someone else. But, experts say it’s highly unlikely.

Colorado is one of 29 states that bind by law the vote of Electoral College members to the results of the statewide presidential election–a result that obliges all of Colorado’s electors to vote for losing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Despite this, two Democratic electors have sued to overturn that law citing constitutional freedoms. On Friday the Colorado Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal, and Republican Secretary of State Wayne Williams says any “rogue electors” in Colorado would be immediately replaced if they violate the law with a vote other than for Clinton.

With that, the effective drama over the Electoral College vote shifts to other states, and very few if any credible analyses of the situation forecast success in this last-ditch attempt to deny Trump the Oval Office. We’re inclined to think that Sen. Gardner knows there will be no “rioting in the street” over the likely result, any more than there was when the Green Party’s recounts in Rust Belt states fizzled embarrassingly.

And that makes us question how Gardner’s presumptuousness helps, his words, “unify this country.”