Richie Robb: Republican Elector From West Virginia Says He Won't Vote For Bush

Robb's decision could end up having enormous national significance because the presidential election is expected to go down to the wire. That is exactly what happened in 2000, when George W. Bush won the White House with 271 electoral votes. To win the presidency, a candidate must receive 270 electoral votes.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/state/westvirginia/2004-10-21-elector_x.htm

Richie Robb: the most powerful man in America?

Richie Robb is the the mayor of South Charleston, West Virginia. And if the electoral map falls just so, he may turn out to be the most powerful man in America.

You see, he's one of the five GOP electors for West Virginia. But, he's already served notice that he won't be voting for George W. Bush. In many states, being a "faithless elector" isn't legal - but in West Virginia, it's game on. (In 1988, a Democratic elector voted for Lloyd Bentsen.)

Is there a realistic scenario of red states and blue states that puts Mayor Richie Robb in the catbird seat? You bet there is.

http://www.blueoregon.com/2004/10/richie_robb_the.html

A Republican elector in West Virginia has said he would be willing to switch his vote to another candidate if President George W. Bush wins the state's popular vote as a protest against the Bush administration's policies.

Republican elector Richie Robb, who has served as mayor of South Charleston since 1975 and is one of five electors representing the five Electoral College votes in West Virginia, is a self-professed moderate Republican who has some disagreements with Bush over his handling of the economy and jobs and the war in Iraq.

As a Vietnam veteran who earned a Bronze Star, Robb said he has not been pleased with what he described as attack ads against Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry over his war record, notably by the 527 group Swift Boat Veterans For Truth.

Robb was opposed to Bush's decision to go to war with Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein and believes Bush's economic policies have led to the loss of 1,000 jobs in his town of 13,000 alone.

Explaining his decision to change his vote as an elector, Robb said he is a "principled elector" who has "qualified discretion" about who he chooses regardless of who the people of his state decide should get the votes for president.

"There is an implied duty to vote for your party's candidate," Robb explained to the Associated Press. "But I don't think it's an explicit duty or responsibility."

While he says it is "highly unlikely" he would vote for Kerry if he changes his vote, Robb said he would probably choose another Republican such as Vice President Dick Cheney to make Bush lose one of the electoral votes he earned.

http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/news2004/1004/102204-elector.htm