Virginia, Virginia, Virginia
Nate Silver from fiverthirtyeight.com shows just how slim McCain's chances are. We'll all hear every pundit talk about this tonight, but if McCain doesn't win Virginia, his chances are extremely slim. On the other hand, if Obama loses Virginia, he still has many ways to get to 270.
On that note, I'm now going to vote and help pad a projected 30-point Obama win in New York. Someone remind me why the electoral college makes sense again? Oh yea, I forgot, it doesn't - but we still let it distort our presidential election every four years.
On that note, I'm now going to vote and help pad a projected 30-point Obama win in New York. Someone remind me why the electoral college makes sense again? Oh yea, I forgot, it doesn't - but we still let it distort our presidential election every four years.
I'll take a stab at why the Electoral College makes sense and will never change.
1. The framers of the Constitution feared direct democracy. Hamilton and others did not trust the population to make the right choice. “…election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station…” –James Madison
2. The Founding Fathers wanted to protect the interests of smaller states and rural areas. "the extent of the country renders it impossible that the people can have the requisite capacity to judge the respective contentions of the candidates” George Mason
3. The Electoral College helps dilute the effect of votes from densely populated centers which may steer away from the concerns of the rest of the country.
Why it's good:
1.It requires a distribution of popular support, making the nation unified
2.It enhances the status of minority groups
3.Contributes to political stability by supporting the two party system
4.Maintains federalism
The last thing I'll say is that it may never change because it will take a constitutional amendment to change it, b/c it's in the constitution. Regionalizing electoral votes, like Nebraska and Maine, makes sense, but could you reall see California or New York giving up Democratic electoral votes or Kansas or Texas giving up GOP electoral votes? No. I think Arthur Schlesinger Jr. suggested giving 100 electoral votes to whomever wins the popular vote, thus solidifying the chances that the winner of the popular vote would always win the election. I fear re-counts would be the focus of the elctions not the issues...sorry for the rant, I just hope it was reasonable.
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