Obama gets elected, but Romney beats him in the popular vote - what happens?

I’m in the “I don’t see how Obama can’t get at least 270 electoral votes” camp, but I’m not as convinced that Romney can’t squeak out a popular vote “victory.” How would the Republicans handle it?

I can see Romney making some joke along the lines of “Now I know how Al Gore feels” (probably followed by some Democrats replying, “The difference is, Obama was elected, while Bush was appointed”), but the “official Republican response” would almost certainly have to be, “Obama was elected, and we’ll live with that.”

About half of them say he’s not a legitimate president anyway. It would make no practical difference. Maybe “Obama lost the popular vote” would take some steam away from Bitherism, but it occupies the same kind of mindspace.

They’ll claim he has no mandate, which is fairly meaningless rhetoric.

There really isn’t much they could say since that’s exactly what happened with Bush.

Hey, thanks for the reminder! So maybe now a nice paper cut and some lemon juice?

I bet they sue, but isn’t there a stronger conservative presence in the Supreme court?? No telling how long it will take to get there though.

Wow, that’s a really fascinating thought: what would the Supreme Court do if they were offered another Bush v. Gore?

No court would accept such a suit.

If Obama wins the electoral vote, he wins the presidency. But if he loses the popular vote, that probably means the Dems loose big in The House, since that more accurately reflects the popular vote.

Although he’s conservative, I don’t see Roberts going along with overturning an election.

Five sets of multiple orgasms, four sets of sackcloth and ashes.

Especially if it’s wholly Constitutional. Nothing says you have to win the popular vote to be president.

Bush-Gore was about the recount in Florida, not about what happens if there is a split between the electoral votes and popular votes. Whoever wins the electoral vote wins the election. That part is Constitutionally cut and dried.

Right, there have been several presidents who took office without winning the popular vote. John Quincy Adams was elected by the House of Representatives in 1824, and Hayes, Harrison, and George W. Bush all lost the popular vote. That’s not a Constitutional crisis and that’s not what made the 2000 election so bizarre and contentious. If it happened this year and Obama won I expect Republicans would make some noises about reforming or abolishing the electoral college, but by the time the 2016 presidential cycle rolled around they would surely forget about it- especially if they felt the electoral map was favorable to them.

I predict that the GOP will suddenly call for the abolition of the Electoral College, and that they will do so without any hint of irony.

Easy answer…Obama becomes President and Romney doesn’t. Why all this weird and convoluted conspiracy theory stuff?

The only practical effect would be the Republicans would say that Obama doesn’t have a mandate, which as Chefguy states is pretty meaningless. Other than that, possibly Romney considers another run in 4 years I suppose…or, maybe Ryan thinks seriously about taking his shot at the top spot then.

I’m a Republican. My reaction would be “Obama won the presidency.” Both guys are campaigning under the current rules. Whoever wins by those rules, wins fair and square. The popular vote, by itself, isn’t relevant. If it was, both guys would be running different campaigns, and then who knows what the outcome would be?

I’ve heard some conservatives say that Clinton didn’t really “win” the 1992 election because he didn’t get a majority of the votes. But nobody argued he wasn’t elected President.

Which is why I can’t figure out why all the media are making such a big deal about the national polls all of a sudden being close. They’re meaningless in terms of deciding the presidency. They are relevant to keeping viewers interested so I guess that is the real reason.

ETA: this was in response to Stratocaster

They didn’t do that when he won the popular vote and the electoral college in 2008, why would they do that if he lost the popular vote?

They basically tried to put government on hold until his term was up.

States don’t vote in vacuums, though. The winner of the national popular vote is going to win the electoral vote unless it’s a very close election. A candidate isn’t going to suddenly become five points more popular in Ohio without moving the needles elsewhere.