Thanks sg
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The Trouble with the Electoral College+9-212 comments to The Trouble with the Electoral CollegeADVERTISEMENTS |
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This is NOT a democracy, the Constitution makes this is a Republic. We don’t follow the popular vote, or else people would simply vote based on who gave them more stuff. We follow the rule of law to make sure the States are happy, since the States are what makes up the Union. You can see the transition from Republic to Democracy even in this next election, we’ll see which way it goes…
Technically correct but we do use a popular vote for other elections so why not for president? If not, at least make it so that the electoral college is split as is done is some of the states.
While I generally agree with this video, they also do manipulate figures. They technically are correct in their figures about the population of large cities, but what matters is the size of the metro areas, not the actual core city itself.
NYC – 8 mil in NYC, 22 mil in metro area
LA – 3.8 mil, 18 mil in metro
Chicago – 2.7 mil, 10 mil in metro
Dallas – 1.2 mil, 6.5 in metro
So yeah, while technically these large cities don’t comprise of that much of the population, the top 15 metro areas = 119 million which equals nearly 40% of the population of the US.
Whoever made this needs to go back to high school civics class. As has already been pointed out, the US is a republic, not a Democracy, thank God. A Democracy is one step from mob rule and dictatorship. The Constitution restrains the federal government but it also restrains the people.
If you want to see democracy in action in the US just go back in our hisory and look at all the Jim Crow laws. Those laws were the result of democratic elections. Decratic votes in stste legislatures by members of the Democratic party. All those laws were 100% consistent with Democratic ideals, one man, one vote, majority rules, minorities suck it. They violated the Constitution, they violated the foundation of the Republic.
Democracy equals Jim Crow. Republicanism equals the rule of law. Keep the Electoral College if you want to keep your rights.
Phil Valentine (syndicated radio host based out of Nashville) offers his explanation of the Electoral College –
This post reminds me of an old classmate of mine who is now a professor at the University of Louisville and has written a number of books including one on this subject. His books have been favorably reviewed, and since I know you’re an avid reader, maybe you could take a look at some of his books sometime.
http://www.amazon.com/Securing-Democracy-Have-Electoral-College/dp/1933859474
My old friend in one of his many appearances on C-SPAN discussing the Electoral College: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/167203-2
A bio of the author: http://education.sar.org/Presenters/Gregg
A list of his books: http://www.amazon.com/Gary-L.-Gregg/e/B001HMYVGE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1352065438&sr=1-3
Interesting, Scott. Even more so because I went to U of L many years ago. I’ll check him out.
I watched both of the videos, and my thoughts haven’t changed. Everyone’s vote needs to count in the Presidential election. The maps that Phil Valentine showed were interesting, but I wish he would have shown a population map, because I would bet it would follow the red/blue map pretty closely.
To those that argue for a republic vs a democracy, I have yet to hear how doing away with the electoral college would cause the republic to crumble. We still have our system of checks and balances, we still have representation via our senators and representatives, etc… Doing away with the electoral college gives everyone an actual vote, versus a republican in Oregon or a democrat in Alabama, whose votes don’t actually count for anything.
Just out of curiousity, would you favor abolishing the ‘all or nothing’ method of allocating electoral votes? In other words, if a candidate received 80% of the vote, they’d get that portion of the states electoral vote with the other candidate receiving the rest. (And yes, I can see how this could be a nightmare with 3rd party candidates or trying to allocate 80% of 6 in even numbers…)
Does anybody read history beyond when they were born? The electoral college is beautiful in it’s design. Without it, would any candidate EVER visit Wyoming, Montana, Rhode Island or New Hampshire? NO! Four states (maybe five) would determine the country’s leadership. That would bite the wax tadpole. We have a system that determines representatives based on population in the Congress and it’s the same system that builds the electoral college.
And since we’re the UNITED STATES, the STATES get to decide how they handle their votes. It’s called the Constitution. They keep it in D.C..
FWIW, I agree completely, Stone. I was just curious what others thought the solution should be.
Democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep deciding on the dinner menu. The EC assures that Hew Hampshire’s position in the republic is as respected as Texas. This is not American Idol but I am afraid that this is where this country is going. We do not have a right to vote in federal elections.