Jim Hightower

Since being thumped hard by voters last November, Republican leaders have gone through a period of reflection, introspection, and contemplation – and they now say they must make fundamental internal changes to become realistic political contenders.

Does this mean they're finally going to quit being a political front for the Koch brothers' plutocratic fantasies, jettison their tea party nuttiness about everything from nullification to "legitimate rape," or stop their destructive fixation on budget slashing? No, no – it's not their own, deeply-flawed fundamentals they intend to change, but the inner workings of America's election mechanics. The problem, they say, is not their unpopular policies or their offensive strategy of attacking whole swaths of the electorate – but that states are not allocating their electoral votes in ways that would throw the election to Republicans.

For some time, we've seen GOP governors and election officials openly rigging rules and voting procedures to shut out students, minorities, seniors, and other likely Democratic voters from casting ballots. But now top Republicans are going all out to "fix" vote allocation rules in selected swing states, enabling their presidential candidates to "win," even though they lose. For example, last fall, Obama won Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. But, with Republicans in control of those state governments, the GOP is scheming to award the electoral votes of those states in the future not to the statewide winner, but to the winner in each congressional district. If it had been fully-implemented for last years election, this arbitrary slicing and dicing would have diverted enough electoral votes to Romney to hand him the presidency.

For more on the GOP's plot to steal the White House, see a full report at www.americanprogressaction.org.