I was just recently trading barbs with a conservative friend of mine, and we always have a good time since our politics are completely opposite but we know how to be impassioned without getting upset. Anyway we started talking about the Electoral College which I believe is completely antiquated and serves no purpose anymore. My friend tended to agree, and it seems to have the opposite effect of why so many defendants argue for its survival.
Now, I usually am in favor of defending the little guy. Probably because I am short and not that athletic and the tall burly guys tend to get their way. Being for the little guy I always want to be sure people are up to speed so here is a short breakdown of how the Electoral College works. So we all vote, and each state eventually declares a winner for the state based on popular vote. The "winner" then gets his electors (which in a state equal the number of representatives + 2 votes for the Senators. The Reps and Senators of the state themselves don't vote, but that is how they determine how many electors a state gets. E.g. Wyoming gets 3 votes (1 Rep + 2 Senators) and the District of Columbia gets 3.) This totals 538 Electors (435 Reps, 100 Senators, 3 votes for D.C.) and a majority or 270 is paydirt. Get 270 and you are President of the United States. These electors are for each party. That is each contestant on the ballot gets there own electors who get to place votes if there candidate wins. They don't HAVE to vote for their guy/girl but they usually do. A few states actually parcel out electors based on proportion of vote, but only a few.
So that is essentially how it goes. You win the popular vote of a state, so your chosen electors are the ones that cast the electoral votes for that state, most or all will vote for you (that is why you chose them) and if you get 270 total you win.
The idea for this, is representation. This way a state gets fair Representation in the election. And this idea worked early on as you had to win most states to get the election but that isn't the case any more. Technically you could win California, New York, Texas and 8 others and take the election. Seriously. You could win 11 States out of 50 and win the Election for President. It would be hard to get those 11 but you can win well less then half the States and take it. That isn't good Representation. You can ignore a chunk of States in the Rocky Mountain region and not suffer that much as long as you get the coasts and a little of the South. That is why I would like to see the system abolished.
In California you get a whopping 55 votes. That is most of the Rockies right there. Popular vote would be better now. Why? California votes around 55% Democratic lately. Just over half. But you get all the Electoral Votes. You could say apportion out the Electoral votes by State % but that would lead to completely ignoring the Poor. But if you had the Popular vote California would be a toss up. It would greatly Reduce the power of the Large States. Now dominating a small State would still yield big dividends. Lets say you get the Non-Urban Areas of California and the majority of sparce populated States and now you have as Much as the Urban Vote getter. More equal Representation. Now you have to pay attention to everyone and come up with some serious ideas that lead to overall help or growth for the Nation. You couldn't just dismiss areas anymore. And yes if you got almost all the high population Urban Areas you would win but how is that possible? With lots of wealthy and lots of poor you split the vote right there. Look at California's district results map. Republicans look a whole lot more popular.
I know there were some other reasons for its existence but most seem outdated. There is no fear of Tyranny, with all the bickering your opponents would oust you quick as can be. They love an opening. Dems or Repubs. And I don't understand a fear of Mandate either. A President gets most of the Responsibility of his time in office, good or bad. Jobs are great? You were a good one. Economy sucked? You were a crappy one. Money is our God in this nation whether you like it or not. EVERYTHING is dictated by funds. You can separate yourself from it if you wish but it doesn't change the power of money. Money for you, against you, hating you, or loving you, it will sway opinions and controls our existence on the planet. So remove a portion of that power and make Parties less significant. Make a President appeal to the people because he is the President of America. State sovereignty doesn't matter there. And it shouldn't. The President represents the People to the world. The Senators and the House are your State Representation to the Nation. Make it how it should be. I would be willing to trade the 17th Amendment for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment