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It is pretty clear, at this point, that if Donald Trump does win this year's presidential election, it's going to be a squeaker. He will not only lose the popular vote, yet again, but his upper limit on EVs looks to be in the 280s, and maybe the 270s. That means that every EV could count, and that Republicans are therefore looking under rocks for every last one.
We used "There Is No Place Like Nebraska" for the headline of this item, because that's the name of the song by Harry Pecha. But when it comes to chopping up electoral votes, there is, of course, one place like Nebraska, namely Maine. The former is a red state, run by Republicans, that might just give one EV to Kamala Harris (NE-02). The latter is a blue state, run by Democrats, that might just give one EV to Donald Trump (ME-02).
This week, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) taking the lead, Republican pooh-bahs have been twisting the arms of the Republicans in the state's unicameral legislature, trying to get them to change the rules. A few months ago, the legislature voted on the issue, and decided a change was not in order. We're not sure what Graham, et al. think might be different now as opposed to 3 months ago. Although, they can now point to viable scenarios where the Nebraska EV makes the difference between a Harris win and a tie (most obviously, if Harris wins all of the Biden states except for Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada, that would give her 269 EVs, with NE-02's being the 270th). Maybe that will light a fire under the Nebraska legislators.
Back when Republicans first began plotting to unify Nebraska's EVs, the counterbalance was Maine, where the legislature was threatening to unify THAT state's EVs, thus canceling out a change made by the Nebraskans. However, what Graham presumably knows is that it's probably too late for that now. Maine law says that newly passed legislation must wait 90 days to be implemented. Since there are considerably fewer than 90 days to the election, the only way to make a change in time is for a two-thirds majority of each chamber to vote for it. Assuming Maine's Democratic legislators remain unified, they would need 21 Republican votes in the state House, and 2 Republican votes in the state Senate. House Majority Leader Maureen Terry (D) is not so sure the votes are there.
There is one other complication for Graham & Co., however. The Nebraska legislature is not in session right now, and won't be again before the election. So, it would not only be necessary to convince some legislators to change their votes, it would also be necessary to drag them away from their regular jobs to convene in Lincoln. Presumably, one way or another, we'll know in the next week or so. (Z)