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Federal laws can effect some states more than others, it certainly does.
But, we can turn it around using your same language - the vast majority of the people who condemn the electoral college and want to go with the popular vote lean democrat. The reason is because they know damn well that they would have an easier time winning the election.
But, the pathway to winning an election works the same for whoever is running. It's a level playing field. You don't change the rules to win an election, you change the way you campaign, change your party platforms, change your candidate, etc.
It is not a level playing field if votes in one state hold more weight than votes in another state. That's like saying, it's a fair game if one of the teams has 10 players and the other has 12.
The truth is we really don't have any federal elections in this country. We have 51 coordinated state elections. That's why the presidential ballot looks different in NY than it does in PA than it does in FL than it does in TX and so on. And that needs to change. A federal election should have uniformity on a federal level - same rules, same dates, same ballots, level playing field.
Some things I've observed. First, the vast majority of the people who support the electoral college lean Republican. The reason they support it is because they know damn well that they would have a heck of a time winning the election otherwise.
+1
Yup, it's all about political power. If the day arrives when the EC does not favor the Republican presidential candidate, of course they will start claiming it's outdated and unfair.
I personally do not care for the electoral college. It creates more opportunity for a contested election, which IMO is not good for the country. And I do not see any logical reason why it is better for a minority of the populace to possibly choose the president. Again, I'm no constitutional expert. This is just my opinion. And yes, I realize this is the system we have and it's not going to be changed.
Some things I've observed. First, the vast majority of the people who support the electoral college lean Republican. The reason they support it is because they know damn well that they would have a heck of a time winning the election otherwise.
So you support a system that is not fair just because changing it would favor democrats?
Doesn't that mean that democrats are standing up for what's right?
I'll tell you how ridiculous the electoral college is
Based on the image below, in Colorado each elector represents 600,000 people
in Wyoming each elector represents 200,000 people
The vote of a person voting in Cheyenne, WY is worth 3 times more than the vote of a person voting 50 miles South in Ft. Collins, CO.
The vote of a person voting in Cheyenne, WY is worth 3 times more than the vote of a person voting 50 miles South in Ft. Collins, CO.
Excellent point. One person, one vote. If we had a popular vote election, Biden would be the clear winner right now being 4 million votes ahead. With a margin that large this election should be over. All the Electoral College does is elevate some states to battleground status, that get messy with lawyers wrangling over the last 500 votes somewhere. All this chaos and confusion in Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, etc., is really unnecessary.
I hate the electoral college as much as anybody. It's a stupid way to elect a leader.
But honestly, the U.S. is not a singular democracy. It's a federal republic. We have 50 separate elections for president in each of the states, and each state gets it's chunk of the puzzle pieces to elect president based on its population. That's the way it's set up.
California is not technically getting screwed. California has 53 House districts, Wyoming has 1. Who has more power in the government? Not Wyoming and its one vote in the House! The House of Representatives is still controlled by the Democrats precisely BECAUSE OF California!
Now, I think we should get rid of the electoral college, and we should do it by amending the constitution. The founders gave us the ability to change that thing. People said women could never get the right to vote and the movement didn't say "oh it's too hard!" and give up, it built the support and changed the constitution.
Without the electoral college mob rule will take over. Worse yet, the largest cities will control the nation. Who wants New York and California in charge of anything after the social mess they have made in their states? California is dying a long slow and painful death all thanks to the politicians who have ruled there for the last 40 or so years. Only the electoral college gives a voice to the rural communities.
These days "rural" often means Big Ag and they don't care about cities at all. I don't want them controlling anything.
Because of Big Ag's lust for huge profits, our food isn't as good and clean as it can and should be.
Democrats winning the popular vote indicates they are good at delivering a message that favors only select high population states such as California. That is not "pretty good" because of course we don't elect our president that way.
Swing states are not the only way to win. A candidate needs to change his message to "flip" over otherwise states that tend to vote one way. Trump did this in 2016. Apparently Biden was able to do this in Arizona. It's all fair.
Or it could mean that the democrats message reaches THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS!!!!
The popular vote has nothing to do with states(that's the electoral college system), the popular vote is each individual voter throughout the country. the electoral college is what creates the "my state vs your state" mentality the popular vote assumes we are all American's regardless of state, every state has liberals, moderates and conservatives. but only under a popular vote do all votes count. currently if you are a liberal in a red state or a conservative in a blue state your vote is not counted toward the president. or if you are a moderate in either your vote only counts 50% of the time, again we have had 2 presidents that the majority of Americans voted against. in our current system only about 10% of the population picks the prez every 4 years(moderates who live in swing states).
Last edited by Rachel NewYork; 11-05-2020 at 09:01 PM..
Reason: Removed red text.
I haven't followed this thread since my initial comment. I read the posts on this last page.
I stand by my original comment: going to only popular vote means mob rule. Check the county by county maps for each state in this election: for those states with a large metro area, that metro area controls the fate of the state's votes. You basically have a large population of city dwellers controlling the political fate of all the rural voters, and in turn the fate of the country.
Let's examine Biden's' promise that if elected, I will demand mandatory mask use by all Americans...So a rancher riding the fences on his 80,000 ac ranch in WY must wear a mask just like a NYer riding the subway? Stoopid....Extrapolate that to other issues.
Republicans favor the Electoral College because they are Conservatives--by definition, that means they want to protect and preserve the Constitution-- which wisely called for an Electoral College. (Note to those who lose track of definitions-- A conservationist wants to save the forest. The opposite, a "liberalationist" thinks it's ok to burn it down.)
Look at the votes by county. ..Let me run this past everyone for comment-- Why don't we take the large metro areas-- LA, SF, Chicago, Cleveland, Philly, NY, Boston, maybe more, and combine their votes, separate from their states,' into one or more "states for the sake of the election" with their own electoral votes?
It seems the Electoral votes made more sense when most people lived evenly distributed across the land, but increasing urbanization, with its markedly different lifestyle & concerns than the rural areas needs to be addressed so that the rural areas are not rendered irrelevant and un-represented in govt.
Or it could mean that the democrats message reaches THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS!!!!
.
A little arithmetic to ruminate on: --in very round approximations:
White, middle class Americans comprise 75% of the electorate, and vote 60:40 GOP
African Americans comprise 12% of the electorate, and vote 90:10 Dem
Latin Americans comprise 12% of the electorate and vote 75:25 Dem
Do some arithmetic and you'll see that that overwhelming but undeserved respect given by the minority voters to the Dems, and the national vote goes 50:50.
The minor deviations we see from actual vote counts in our last several elections can be attributed to statistical wandering of the data as much as to deterministic factors (the "Dem Message').
Essentially, our two minority groups are determining the outcomes of our elections, not the majority demographic.
Republicans favor the Electoral College because they are Conservatives--by definition, that means they want to protect and preserve the Constitution-- which wisely called for an Electoral College. (Note to those who lose track of definitions-- A conservationist wants to save the forest. The opposite, a "liberalationist" thinks it's ok to burn it down.)
Really?
Because Trump is calling for the Supreme Court to step in and decide the election
Even though the constitution clearly says that:
(1) The president will be elected by the electoral college
(2) Electoral college is determined by the electoral votes from each state
(3) If there is a tie, the House will decide the winner
That BS about "conservatives protect the constitution" is a myth
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