It's Election Day

The real presidential election is today. Yes, it's time for that 18th century ritual, the electoral college.

I expect today to be more interesting than most. Iowa's Melinda Wadsley blew it by yakking about it too soon but I'm still betting the beret that at least one bitter-end Paulistinian slipped through in a state won by Mitt Romney, and thus Ron Paul will get at least one electoral vote today.

We've seen three of those in recent years. In 2000 a DC elector abstained to protests the District's lack of voting congressional representation. Of course, that was only a small electoral college problem compared to the larger problem of the person with the most popular votes losing.

John Kerry lost a vote in Minnesota when someone inadvertently voting for John Edwards for president and VP, and Michael Dukakis lost a defecting elector in West Virginia.

Speaking of John Kerry and Michael Dukakis, the 1988 presidential nominee may well be the interim placeholder senator when the 2004 nominee goes to the State Department.

And speaking of West Virginia, Joe Manchin is now probably the most conservative Democrat from the reddest state left in the Senate. So his comments on gun control this morning are interesting:

“I just came with my family from deer hunting,” Manchin said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I’ve never had more than three shells in a clip. Sometimes you don’t get more than one shot anyway. It’s common sense. It’s time to move beyond rhetoric. We need to sit down and have a common sense discussion and move in a reasonable way.”

Telling me that ammo clip restrictions are the direction this goes, if any. But don't forget: the electoral challenge most House members face isn't a general election; it's a Republican primary.

Also today: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is set to announce Senator Jim DeMint's replacement at 11 Iowa time, as a Nation awaits.