Electoral College Vote; Interesting Topic

[candycorn]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

 

[Two Thumbs]

has this ever happened?

I don't recall this in history class.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

Interesting thought...........got a link to a viable civics website to back this up?

 

[Two Thumbs]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

Interesting thought...........got a link to a viable civics website to back this up?

seems we have been over estimated.

 

[Missourian]

Here ya go....112th United States Congress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[candycorn]

has this ever happened?

I don't recall this in history class.

The House has picked the POTUS twice according to Wiki. The Senate, once I believe. Never has the Speaker ever elevated to the presidency.

 

[Missourian]

I missed 1 state, which I gave to the Dems, but it hardly matters...it came out 32 R - 17 D - 1 split evenly.

 

[candycorn]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

Interesting thought...........got a link to a viable civics website to back this up?

Electoral College | American Civics | Khan Academy

I believe this will suffice. Wiki also has a lot of the same information.

The part about whether the GOP majority would cut across all of the states is truly an open question I haven't researched. It would seem like it would. What it basically comes down to is whether or not the GOP state-by-state supremacy is in a majority of the states or not. If it is, the GOP candidate is in.

If it isn't, it's very interesting. Some states have even numbers of electoral votes. Since each state has 2 senators, that means the number of house seats is even in those states. I wonder how many delegations are split... Like Maine for example...4 electoral votes means 2 senators, 2 congressmen/women. Minnesota has 8 seats in the house, 4 democrat and 4 republican. So it is pretty easy to envision MN not casting a vote. Curious how it would turn out if it ever came down to that.

 

[theunbubba]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

Ahem. This vote is taken after the new members are seated. Biden would no longer be Vice president. Boehner would be the acting president until one is picked.

 

[theunbubba]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

Interesting thought...........got a link to a viable civics website to back this up?

Electoral College | American Civics | Khan Academy

I believe this will suffice. Wiki also has a lot of the same information.

The part about whether the GOP majority would cut across all of the states is truly an open question I haven't researched. It would seem like it would. What it basically comes down to is whether or not the GOP state-by-state supremacy is in a majority of the states or not. If it is, the GOP candidate is in.

If it isn't, it's very interesting. Some states have even numbers of electoral votes. Since each state has 2 senators, that means the number of house seats is even in those states. I wonder how many delegations are split... Like Maine for example...4 electoral votes means 2 senators, 2 congressmen/women. Minnesota has 8 seats in the house, 4 democrat and 4 republican. So it is pretty easy to envision MN not casting a vote. Curious how it would turn out if it ever came down to that.

RealClearPolitics - 2010 Election Maps - House Final Results


I think it's a pretty safe bet it does. ^^^^ That's a link to the final map for the 2010 house election.

There are NO democrat reps from Alaska, Idaho,Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and interestingly enough, New Hampshire!

 

[candycorn]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

Ahem. This vote is taken after the new members are seated. Biden would no longer be Vice president. Boehner would be the acting president until one is picked.

I think you're wrong about that.

The initial vote of the electors is taken actually in the middle of December, 6 weeks after the day of the election. If no POTUS is picked at that point, the House begins it's process. If they can't pick a POTUS by roughly 1/3, then the new Congress takes over.

The Senate picks the VP and, if it is 2012 you're talking about, there is a Democratic majority until the new Senate is sworn in. Whether or not it is controlled by the GOP or the DNC, is a matter to be decided this November.

Regardless, by constitutional law, Biden will be VP until 1/20/2013 unless he's impeached before them or falls down and mortally wounds himself which is always a possibility. I see no doctrine for having a 2.5 month power vacuum that you're saying is a possibility. None whatsoever.

 

[Two Thumbs]

Interesting thought...........got a link to a viable civics website to back this up?

Electoral College | American Civics | Khan Academy

I believe this will suffice. Wiki also has a lot of the same information.

The part about whether the GOP majority would cut across all of the states is truly an open question I haven't researched. It would seem like it would. What it basically comes down to is whether or not the GOP state-by-state supremacy is in a majority of the states or not. If it is, the GOP candidate is in.

If it isn't, it's very interesting. Some states have even numbers of electoral votes. Since each state has 2 senators, that means the number of house seats is even in those states. I wonder how many delegations are split... Like Maine for example...4 electoral votes means 2 senators, 2 congressmen/women. Minnesota has 8 seats in the house, 4 democrat and 4 republican. So it is pretty easy to envision MN not casting a vote. Curious how it would turn out if it ever came down to that.

RealClearPolitics - 2010 Election Maps - House Final Results


I think it's a pretty safe bet it does. ^^^^ That's a link to the final map for the 2010 house election.

There are NO democrat reps from Alaska, Idaho,Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and interestingly enough, New Hampshire!

That's b/c NHers cling to thier guns and bibles.

 

[candycorn]

Interesting thought...........got a link to a viable civics website to back this up?

Electoral College | American Civics | Khan Academy

I believe this will suffice. Wiki also has a lot of the same information.

The part about whether the GOP majority would cut across all of the states is truly an open question I haven't researched. It would seem like it would. What it basically comes down to is whether or not the GOP state-by-state supremacy is in a majority of the states or not. If it is, the GOP candidate is in.

If it isn't, it's very interesting. Some states have even numbers of electoral votes. Since each state has 2 senators, that means the number of house seats is even in those states. I wonder how many delegations are split... Like Maine for example...4 electoral votes means 2 senators, 2 congressmen/women. Minnesota has 8 seats in the house, 4 democrat and 4 republican. So it is pretty easy to envision MN not casting a vote. Curious how it would turn out if it ever came down to that.

RealClearPolitics - 2010 Election Maps - House Final Results


I think it's a pretty safe bet it does. ^^^^ That's a link to the final map for the 2010 house election.

There are NO democrat reps from Alaska, Idaho,Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and interestingly enough, New Hampshire!

I think you're right about that. Hell, if you look at the 2008 election, most of it was actually red except for the electorally large states. It stands to reason that congressional delegations would be mostly red as well.

It's mostly red so it would stand to reason.

 

[theunbubba]

Just to refresh the idea of a landslide:

 

[JoeB131]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

You're premise is that the Senate would remain in Democratic Hands after this election, which is pretty unlikely. The Democrats are defending 10 seats, the GOP is only defending two, and they only need to win four to get control of the chamber. So in the unlikely event that the House is Deadlocked, whoever the GOP nominee for veep will likely be the acting president.

Right now, if you had a one-state, one vote breakdown, the GOP guy would win the House as well. all those square states with Republican Congressmen. More than likely, the Dems will take back some seats, but I think the House is going to remain in GOP hands.

 

[Paulie]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

And what if the process takes so long to get figured out that the next congress is sworn in? We can't even get vote counts done in a reasonable amount of time...imagine if this kind of unprecedented situation came about? They would have a little over 2 months to figure it out before the next congress is sworn in. If it's not done by then, does the next congress take over the process? If so, that changes the whole thing.

 

[candycorn]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

And what if the process takes so long to get figured out that the next congress is sworn in? We can't even get vote counts done in a reasonable amount of time...imagine if this kind of unprecedented situation came about? They would have a little over 2 months to figure it out before the next congress is sworn in. If it's not done by then, does the next congress take over the process? If so, that changes the whole thing.

Yes. The "next" congress takes up the matter. Hopefully Harry Reid will find it within his heart to schedule a vote on who the vice president would be. The bastard.

Is this any way to run a country?

 

[candycorn]

Just to refresh the idea of a landslide:

Thats a bit misleading but I see your point.

The big blotches of Red are basically state-wide districts (ND has one representative so the entire state is red).

But yeah, that sort of confirms that the GOP would be able to install its Presidential candidate in that scenario.

 

[candycorn]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

You're premise is that the Senate would remain in Democratic Hands after this election, which is pretty unlikely. The Democrats are defending 10 seats, the GOP is only defending two, and they only need to win four to get control of the chamber. So in the unlikely event that the House is Deadlocked, whoever the GOP nominee for veep will likely be the acting president.

Right now, if you had a one-state, one vote breakdown, the GOP guy would win the House as well. all those square states with Republican Congressmen. More than likely, the Dems will take back some seats, but I think the House is going to remain in GOP hands.

It would be in Democratic hands until 1/3/13.

 

[JoeB131]

Hi.

As we all know, if no candidate gets 270 electoral college votes, the House of Representatives picks the next President.

However, I assumed that the 435 House Members vote, it will be split among party lines, and they decide who is the President.

WRONG!!!

There are 50 votes, one per state.

So if the state has a majority of Republican or Democratic congressmen and women, they will vote for either candidate but the State itself just gets one vote. So if you have a 34-0 GOP majority in Texas, that isn't 34 votes for the republican candidate for President, that is one vote.

It would be interesting to see how it turns out this year. We all know the GOP has the majority in the House but does the majority cut across state lines or are they just have a massive plurality in a few states. It would be intriguing to have this civics lesson play out.

The Senate chooses the VP. This is not done by state delegation, it is one person, one vote: So the Democrats would be able to install Joe Biden (if he's on the ballot) as the VP. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, there is a standing question about whether or not the VP can cast a deciding vote...in this case, a defacto vote for himself.

Interestingly, if the House deadlocks 25 to 25 and can't come up with a President by 1/20 of the following year, Joe Biden--the Vice President-elect-- will be the acting President until the House can select a President.

It won't happen in 2012 but if both the House and the Senate can't pick a POTUS or VPOTUS, the Speaker of the House becomes the acting President until the chambers can do their job. At that point, the new Senate and House will be seated (after 1/20) so the chance of a deadlocked House and and deadlock senate being maintained across 2 Congressional sessions is incredibly small.

You're premise is that the Senate would remain in Democratic Hands after this election, which is pretty unlikely. The Democrats are defending 10 seats, the GOP is only defending two, and they only need to win four to get control of the chamber. So in the unlikely event that the House is Deadlocked, whoever the GOP nominee for veep will likely be the acting president.

Right now, if you had a one-state, one vote breakdown, the GOP guy would win the House as well. all those square states with Republican Congressmen. More than likely, the Dems will take back some seats, but I think the House is going to remain in GOP hands.

It would be in Democratic hands until 1/3/13.

You don't think they'll find ways to delay the vote until then?

It's a moot point, anyway.