Re: Alternatives to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment (on

Tim McDaniel (tmcd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
) wrote:

: Surely Congress had no part in nominating Presidents or electing them
: (unless the Electoral College did not produce a majority)!  Certainly
: party conventions could not elect a president.

In the early 19th centuries the congressional caucus picked the
nominee. If one wanted a snap election, meaning no primaries, that would
be another option (or in a non-partisan system, have the Congress 
vote for president and the two highest candidates run in a
national election). Another option would be to have the delegates from the
previous party convention pick a nominee (though rounding them up might be
tricky, and not very "snap"). 

However the "fixed term" idea goes back to the 18th century, and is
reflected in all state and local governments (i.e. no where in America can
a chief executive of a state or local government be ousted by a
non-confidence motion), so onemight need a POD that lets the US have at
least some exposure to a "prime minister" concept.