The Electoral College: A Democratic enigma (comments)
What readily comes to mind is a passage from a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes we had to memorize in Mr. Griffiths’ 12th grade English Class, 1955: “Build ye more stately mansions, O my soul and make each nobler than the last.”
As far back as I can remember, after every Presidential election the word was, “We have to deal with the Electoral College”. I would say there were few not alarmed with the totally bizarre and circus atmosphere created by Sen. Obamas’ run for the ‘08 Presidency and the hovering dark clouds as to how members of the Electoral College would vote. In my opinion, there were many ‘Laugh to keep from crying’ moments during the time.
Immediately after a professor from James Mason University (I think his name was Soros. It started with an “S”) had a discussion on a show with Amy Goodman regarding the Electoral College, members of the blogosphere took over and well-guarded functions of the organization and the anonymity of its members were exposed. We found out during the process the entity named Electoral College was made from whole-cloth i.e., a labyrinth, a maze, a compilation of nebulous intersecting units. In other words, an organization positioned to thwart, confuse and polarize the will of the people during a Presidential election if there were a need. The words ‘benign nefarious’ come to mind.
I must admit the Electoral College is a brilliant political instrument but then so were the creations of the Democratic ‘White Citizens Council’ organizations.
During the ‘08 Presidential Elections, I felt exposure to the whims of members of the Electoral College vastly distracting and I hope its future irrelevancy has been well documented. I thank God the Republicans do not have their own Electoral College. The past season would have been un-bearable!
Now is the time to deal with the Electoral College issue. Now is the time to build more stately and nobler mansions. Is there a committee to do this or is it up to (gasp) Harry Reid or (Ye gods!) Nancy Tee-hee to initiate whatever is needed to retire that organization from our political scene?
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-SPAN and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB
As far back as I can remember, after every Presidential election the word was, “We have to deal with the Electoral College”. I would say there were few not alarmed with the totally bizarre and circus atmosphere created by Sen. Obamas’ run for the ‘08 Presidency and the hovering dark clouds as to how members of the Electoral College would vote. In my opinion, there were many ‘Laugh to keep from crying’ moments during the time.
Immediately after a professor from James Mason University (I think his name was Soros. It started with an “S”) had a discussion on a show with Amy Goodman regarding the Electoral College, members of the blogosphere took over and well-guarded functions of the organization and the anonymity of its members were exposed. We found out during the process the entity named Electoral College was made from whole-cloth i.e., a labyrinth, a maze, a compilation of nebulous intersecting units. In other words, an organization positioned to thwart, confuse and polarize the will of the people during a Presidential election if there were a need. The words ‘benign nefarious’ come to mind.
I must admit the Electoral College is a brilliant political instrument but then so were the creations of the Democratic ‘White Citizens Council’ organizations.
During the ‘08 Presidential Elections, I felt exposure to the whims of members of the Electoral College vastly distracting and I hope its future irrelevancy has been well documented. I thank God the Republicans do not have their own Electoral College. The past season would have been un-bearable!
Now is the time to deal with the Electoral College issue. Now is the time to build more stately and nobler mansions. Is there a committee to do this or is it up to (gasp) Harry Reid or (Ye gods!) Nancy Tee-hee to initiate whatever is needed to retire that organization from our political scene?
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-SPAN and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB
posted by BB at 5:36 AM
2 Comments:
There have been 22,000 electoral votes cast since presidential elections became competitive (in 1796), and only 10 have been cast for someone other than the candidate nominated by the elector's own political party. The electors are dedicated party activists of the winning party who meet briefly in mid-December to cast their totally predictable votes in accordance with their pre-announced pledges.
If a Democratic presidential candidate receives the most votes, the state's dedicated Democratic party activists who have been chosen as its slate of electors become the Electoral College voting bloc. If a Republican presidential candidate receives the most votes, the state's dedicated Republican party activists who have been chosen as its slate of electors become the Electoral College voting bloc. The winner of the presidential election is the candidate who collects 270 votes from Electoral College voters from among the winning party's dedicated activists.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld state laws guaranteeing faithful voting by presidential electors (because the states have plenary power over presidential electors).
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote, everywhere, would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections. Elections wouldn't be about winning states. No more distorting and divisive red and blue state maps. Every vote, everywhere would be counted for and directly assist the candidate for whom it was cast. Candidates would need to care about voters across the nation, not just undecided voters in a handful of swing states.
The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes--that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Historically, virtually all of the major changes in the method of electing the President, including ending the requirement that only men who owned substantial property could vote and 48 current state-by-state winner-take-all laws, have come about by state legislative action.
The bill has been endorsed or voted for by 1,922 state legislators (in 50 states) who have sponsored and/or cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.
In Gallup polls since 1944, only about 20% of the public has supported the current system of awarding all of a state's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in each separate state (with about 70% opposed and about 10% undecided). Support for a national popular vote is strong in virtually every state, partisan, and demographic group surveyed in recent polls in closely divided battleground states: CO-- 68%, IA --75%, MI-- 73%, MO-- 70%, NH-- 69%, NV-- 72%, NM-- 76%, NC-- 74%, OH-- 70%, PA -- 78%, VA -- 74%, and WI -- 71%; in smaller states (3 to 5 electoral votes): AK – 70%, DC – 76%, DE --75%, ME -- 77%, NE -- 74%, NH --69%, NV -- 72%, NM -- 76%, RI -- 74%, and VT -- 75%; in Southern and border states: AR --80%, KY -- 80%, MS --77%, MO -- 70%, NC -- 74%, and VA -- 74%; and in other states polled: CA -- 70%, CT -- 74% , MA -- 73%, MN – 75%, NY -- 79%, WA -- 77%, and WV- 81%.
The National Popular Vote bill has passed 31 state legislative chambers, in 21 small, medium-small, medium, and large states, including one house in AR (6), CT (7), DE (3), DC (3), ME (4), MI (17), NV (5), NM (5), NY (31), NC (15), and OR (7), and both houses in CA (55), CO (9), HI (4), IL (21), NJ (15), MD (10), MA(12), RI (4), VT (3), and WA (11). The bill has been enacted by DC, HI, IL, NJ, MD, MA, and WA. These 7 states possess 76 electoral votes -- 28% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
http://www.NationalPopularVote.com
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