What do you think of the electoral college now?

[vulturesrow]

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Why is the Electoral College the best way to do it? If you don't mind me asking.

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Let me first say that I think that there are compelling arguments on both sides. For me it boils down making sure all the states have a voice in who the President. My fear with popular election is the majority of the voting power would be concentrated urban America. As someone who grew up in the rural South , I dont feel that would be of much help to the issues that concern me.

Of course some may counter by saying that the Electoral College drives the election to be decided by a few states anyways. That may be the case, but at least the politicians are forced to address the concerns of a wider demographic.

Personally, I think the Electoral College system was pure genius on the part of our founding fathers. Its amazing that they were able to create a system that has by and large held up this long.

[Abednego]

I think third parties are a joke ...... from what I can tell the exclusive domain of potheads. Most Americans are concerned about more important matters.

[elwoodblues]

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For me it boils down making sure all the states have a voice in who the President

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That's the general argument. I just don't know if in practical terms it would make that big of a difference. Take this election, for example. It is so close that each candidate would scramble to get every vote they could. It might even make states that currently get largely ignored by the politicians (because they are too strong in either the blue or red category) to get attention from both sides because they had value to both candidates. Take Texas, for example --- I don't know this as fact but would suspect that Kerry spent nearly 0 time in Texas. If we had a different system (either straight popular or proportional distribution of electoral votes) Kerry surely would have spent time their trying to increase the 38% that he ended up with.

As our system stands now, there are several states that are largely ignored and it has little to do with size.

[vulturesrow]

You are probably correct for the most part. I did hear on the news last night that Kerry visited something like 41 states during the campaign. I suspect that number might be lower if we were going the popular vote route. I really think the net effect of the concentrated population centers would cause smaller states to be more irrelevant.

[lorinda]

If the system was proportional votes within each state it would make each state worth visiting.

An (imaginary) state that was strongly Republican might return 4 of 5 ECV for the Republicans on 80% but only return 3 of 5 on 60% , so even catering to some extra needs would be worth their while.

It would remove the concept of target states, as every vote would be important in every state, although smaller states would still get a higher % of ECVs than they would if it were done on popular vote.

Just some tired foreign thoughts.

Lori

[Beerfund]

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I don't think the Electoral College is a great system, but I also think a straight popular vote system would have many problems as well. What are some of the other alternatives?

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A queen

[Ulysses]

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No candidate can win without a broad national coalition, assembled state by state yet compelled to transcend narrow geographic, economic, and social interests

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Yes, that's the idea.

But take a look at the time and money the candidates spent on California, New York, and Texas.

That's probably the biggest issue I have with the current system. Yes, I'm well aware of why the electoral college exists and the intended purposes of this system. And, no, I don't have any great ideas re: a perfect solution.

[elwoodblues]

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But take a look at the time and money the candidates spent on California, New York, and Texas.



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Exactly, so instead of (largely) ignoring the least populous states, 4 of the 5 largest states were largely ignored (CA, NY, IL, TX). Kind of a backwards result.

[Trainwreck]

I have thought for a long time that the EC was something that should have been done away with, a long time ago.

*I'll stick with that!*

....and public funds for campaigns should also be removed, the wasted $ on ridiculous ads is shameful compared to the good that same $ could do.

>TW<

[Kopefire]

The same way I felt in 2000 --- the electoral college is necessary otherwise a candidate need only campaign for the coasts. Rural America may not be as populated as NY, CA, TX, and FL, but we still matter. The electoral system is important for the same reason we need both the House and the Senate . ..