# Obama speaks: 'people, due to the extent of damage from \[insert event\], the election is cancelled' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444 "2012-06-27T10:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/21 "2012-06-27T15:17:22Z")
Would they use the black helecopters? Those things are cool. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/22 "2012-06-27T15:19:38Z")
I think the OPs question was what would it take to postpone the election (and if it wasn’t, that’s what I’magonna answer anyway…) Aliens blow up NYC, Chicago, and DC… hundreds of thousands dead, incl. a majority of legislative branch… SIMULTANEOUS earthquake makes California - Hawaii walking distance. elections will still be held on 1st tuesday in November. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/23 "2012-06-27T15:46:22Z")
British elections were to be held no later than November 1940 before WW2 broke out: they were then postponed annually until July 1945. Same in WW1: Last election 1910, next election due 1915, postponed until 1918. Under the British Constitution the decision to delay elections is one of the few areas of law which the House of Lords retains an absolute veto - it cannot be overruled by the Commons. And any such proposal can only delay the election by 12 months: if they want to delay it again, they have to pass another delaying motion. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/24 "2012-06-27T15:52:08Z")
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned the outrage when it was suggested than the 2001 mayoral election in New York City be postponed (or the effect of it otherwise altered) after the 9-11 attacks. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/25 "2012-06-27T15:54:28Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > elections will still be held on 1st tuesday in November. Nitpick: the Tuesday after the first Monday – that is, they can never be November 1st. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/26 "2012-06-27T16:06:19Z")
Sigh… seems like just the other day I was telling panicky people that Dubya WOULD allow elections in 2004, and that, at worst, he WOULD leave office on January 20, 2009. I suppose I could try to reassure currently panicky people that there WILL be elections this November, that Obama will eave office if he loses, and that, even in the worst case scenario, someone else will be President on January 20, 2017. But why bother? No sane person would doubt that in the first place, and the paranoid aren’t likely to find me reassuring. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/27 "2012-06-27T16:08:08Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I remember being told in a very serious manner that there was no way that Clinton was going to give up the presidency. Plus, how many people on this board were convinced that Bush was scheming to make himself dictator-for-life. The more things change, the more they stay the same… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/28 "2012-06-27T16:12:35Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Plus, how many people on this board were convinced that Bush was scheming to make himself dictator-for-life. The more things change, the more they stay the same… Seriously? I think the answer would be zero. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/29 "2012-06-27T16:15:57Z")
The only thing close to this was Rudy Giuliani staying in office post 9/11. He is a Republican and I usually vote for Democrats, but I had no issue with this. NYC was in the middle of a serious crisis, not of the mayor’s making, and to burden the system with a transition of governance at that time would have been rubbing salt in the wound. Further, conducting a transparently fair election in the middle of that CF would have been difficult. Postponing the election was an entirely reasonable response. Of course my view was from most of a continent away. Maybe some New Yorkers saw this as an unwarranted power-grab, but if so I never heard about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/30 "2012-06-27T16:28:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I remember being told in a very serious manner that there was no way that Clinton was going to give up the presidency. Right. Clinton had millions of “Road Closed By Martial Law” signs stashed away in Wal-Marts across the country. Before Cliinton, Reagen was going to ram through a Constitutional amendment to repeal the 22nd Amendment and make himself President for Life. (Presumably, Reagen would have had to take care of his pesky Vice President, George H. W. Bush, who had a hand in the assasination attempt.) Speaking of Bush 41, he not only had the black helicopters (special ops) but also the blue helicopters (United Nations) to enforce his reign of terror. While no one ever actually saw the helicopters, their travels were cleverly deduced by the string of cattle mutilations across the Midwest and Great Plains. None of it matters, of course, because the office of the President has been simply a tool of the Pope ever since Papa Joe Kennedy bought the 1960 election for his son. Did I miss anything? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/31 "2012-06-27T17:01:47Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > If the feds can create states, perhaps they can declare someone governor or recognize a petition to reboot the state constitution in extreme circumstances too? Look at Congress’ recognition of the Wheeling Convention =\> Reorganized Government of Virginia as a guide. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/32 "2012-06-27T17:07:16Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Did I miss anything? You forgot the train cars with the United Nations logo sent out across the country to establish a New World Order. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/33 "2012-06-27T17:22:49Z")
Don’t forget Jack London’s “The Iron Heel”, where he suggests the president will move the state militias from one state to another (so they don’t have to shoot their own people) to establish the new world order. Paranoia is forever… ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/34 "2012-06-27T17:28:52Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > The only thing close to this was Rudy Giuliani staying in office post 9/11. He is a Republican and I usually vote for Democrats, but I had no issue with this. NYC was in the middle of a serious crisis, not of the mayor’s making, and to burden the system with a transition of governance at that time would have been rubbing salt in the wound. Further, conducting a transparently fair election in the middle of that CF would have been difficult. Postponing the election was an entirely reasonable response. > > Of course my view was from most of a continent away. Maybe some New Yorkers saw this as an unwarranted power-grab, but if so I never heard about it. He didn’t, though. What was suspended were the mayoral primaries, which would have taken place on Sept. 11 (and eventually happened on Sept 25). Giuliani left on schedule at the end of his third term on Dec 31, 2001. I do recall a trial balloon being floated that he would stay on an extra year but that was quickly swatted down. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/35 "2012-06-27T17:31:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Diceman** : > > Plus, how many people on this board were convinced that Bush was scheming to make himself dictator-for-life. The more things change, the more they stay the same… I’m sure he would have _liked_ to be dictator-for-life (as would a great many other people), but even he was realistic enough to know that that wasn’t going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/36 "2012-06-27T17:35:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Seriously? I think the answer would be zero. It wasn’t zero. I remember threads with concerned posters. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/37 "2012-06-27T17:35:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m sure he would have _liked_ to be dictator-for-life (as would a great many other people), but even he was realistic enough to know that that wasn’t going to happen. [He even said as much.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNo0_klKzis) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/38 "2012-06-27T17:38:13Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > The only thing close to this was Rudy Giuliani staying in office post 9/11. He is a Republican and I usually vote for Democrats, but I had no issue with this. NYC was in the middle of a serious crisis, not of the mayor’s making, and to burden the system with a transition of governance at that time would have been rubbing salt in the wound. Further, conducting a transparently fair election in the middle of that CF would have been difficult. Postponing the election was an entirely reasonable response. > > Of course my view was from most of a continent away. Maybe some New Yorkers saw this as an unwarranted power-grab, but if so I never heard about it. I think you’re confused. There was a proposal in New York to eliminate mayoral term limits so Rudy could run again, but he declined to do so. (Years later, Bloomberg successfully lobbied for the removal of term limits anyway and is now in his third term.) You might have confused this with the fact that Sept 11th, 2001 was a primary election day in New York, and the elections were indeed cancelled and postponed due to the disaster, by an emergency bill of the New York Legislature. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/39 "2012-06-27T17:46:22Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > The only thing close to this was Rudy Giuliani staying in office post 9/11. Giuliani _proposed_ extending his term, but people scorned the idea and he departed on schedule January 1, 2002. I don’t think anyone proposed delaying the election. > [@](#): > > NYC was in the middle of a serious crisis, not of the mayor’s making, and to burden the system with a transition of governance at that time would have been rubbing salt in the wound. Further, conducting a transparently fair election in the middle of that CF would have been difficult. There was a serious crisis going on, but the rest of this is not true. The attacks affected a relatively small part of Manhattan, and there’s a lot of city outside lower Manhattan. The primaries were delayed by two weeks but there was no reason it would have been difficult to run an election. In fact, turnout for the mayoral election that November seems to have been unusually high and I don’t think there was any particular burden on the system. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444/40 "2012-06-27T18:05:46Z")
I expected this eventually but I’ll admit it catches me by surprise this year. Why the hell would Obama cancel an election he’s probably going to win legally? And even if you think Obama’s going to lose and you’re the kind of conspiracy nut who believes this sort of nonsense, wouldn’t it make more sense for Obama to hold the election and then fix the outcome rather than cancel the election? Or is this just a practice run for the kind of lunacy we’ll be hearing in 2016? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-speaks-people-due-to-the-extent-of-damage-from-insert-event-the-election-is-cancelled/626444.md?page=3)