Tamilisai Soundararajan Quotes

Because of the contested Electoral College vote in the 1876 election, a special commission was set up by Congress to decide "as to which is the true and lawful electoral vote" from those states where more than one return was recorded by the College. On March 2, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was selected President over Samuel Tilden.

Republican Party primary elections had become very contentious. The radical right and the Tea Party, though a minority of the party, had the power to destroy almost any Republican candidate’s chances. So those Republican political candidates were forced to pander to the extreme right and then try and backtrack to the center for the general election. As a result, few people believed the statements of Republican office seekers as no one knew what they really believed including members of their own party, Bush, no longer running for any political position, found himself with much more credibility and influence in the party than those who were running for office. The problem of appealing to party extremes was not unique to the Republicans at that time, but the degree and extent was unprecedented accounting for the distrust.

Obama was a President who believed deeply in the concepts of checks and balances and separation of powers. He did not punish members of Congress who opposed him by closing federal installations in their state of district, not giving government contracts to companies in his district and in the case of member of his own party who were “recalcitrant” supporting opponent in primary elections and failing to support in general elections. Presidents Nixon and Johnson used these techniques particularly effectively. As a result they pushed their legislative programs through Congress very effectively. All other modern Presidents have done this to one degree or another, but Obama did not. He believed that pressure on member of Congress should be limited to persuasion and public debate moving public opinion. Many seasoned politicians and political observers however thought that this was Obama’s biggest weakness as a President. Lyndon Johnson did not have to actually punish many member of Congress, as his willingness to do so was well known and thus few opposed him when he called or met with them and “gave them the treatment.” But Congress knew that Obama had taken punishment and retaliation off the table, and many opposed him including member of his own party.

San Francisco Machine Boss Abraham At that time, there were very few jurisdictions with primary elections. Most, like California, selected the party candidates at party conventions. At the time the Railroads had bribed or employed enough delegates to the Party Convention to veto any candidate they did not like. And Pardee was in their sights as he was a supporter of the Theodore Roosevelt concept of preservation of public lands. That meant less land for the Railroads to obtain, develop, build a railroad line and station in the area and then sell the land in smaller parcels at a huge profit.