Saturday, August 14, 2004

Abolishing the electoral college

There is still a low level buzz out there about abolishing the electoral college and deciding presidential elections by popular vote. I don't think the advocates of the popular vote idea understand one thing. Once the strategy for winning the presidency moves from winning states to winning the most votes, the average Joe is going to be disenfrachised. Why? The candidates will be more concerned than ever with pandering to the biggest special interests in the nation. Now they have to visit key states, understand the needs of those states, and propose plans that meet those needs. Under the popular vote system, the number of visits to states will dry up, and instead the candidates will address special interests and proclaim that they are in lock step agreement with those groups, and that will be it. Personally, the electoral college system is more relevant today than ever.

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