Posted on 09/23/2019 1:32:51 AM PDT by Jacquerie
A book by George C. Edwards III, 2004.
Democracy is always an easy sell. If you admire democracy, if you feel that America is or should be a democracy, youll enjoy this book. If the 2000 election angered you not because Al Gore sought to extend recounts until Florida got it right, but instead because he won half a million more votes nationwide than George Bush and still lost, then this book is for you.
Purpose of the Electoral College. However, if you believe the Framers system served a distinct and noble purpose, that of providing an endless succession of George Washingtons, men of high public virtue, who arrive in office without political debts, and that any reform should address hundreds of years of political party corruption, then this work will disappoint. The purpose of the Electoral College isnt Edwards concern.
Political Equality. Edwards work relies on an assumption, what he calls political equality. In political equality, every vote carries equal weight. His assumption of political equality demands popular election of the President. Since the President represents all the people, it is the only moral and just approach. To Edwards, any process unequal to perfect political equality is illegitimate. Thus, the Electoral College is illegitimate and must go.
Political equality in democracy is a nearly irresistible attraction. But it is an emotion, a passion. Consent of the governed in the American system doesnt translate into power to the people. But that is where George C. Edwards III would take our nation. He isnt alone. Since 1913 when America wandered from the Framers purposeful structure and ratified the 17th Amendment, academia and with it the government and judiciary increasingly assigned attributes to popular will that would shock the men of 1787.
(Excerpt) Read more at articlevblog.com ...
Correct.
Great explanation—Thanks...
To win the popular vote Clinton cheated (through her minions). Bus loads of people went from poll to poll. Massive voter fraud by illegal aliens. The list goes on. In order for a Republican Presidential candidate to win it has to be more than a simple minority.
Yet the democrats cry voter suppression as if democrat Bull Connor were still Jim Crowing the elections.
The real difference that year was New Hampshire with its 4 EC votes.
Gore was the only Democrat to lose NH since 1988 forward. Gore wins NH, he was President with exactly 270 EC votes.
Absolute proof hitlery lost in a landslide. Thank You !
Without question.
“Our Founders got it right”
Our founders also got it right when they created two houses of Congress. One represents the population and the other represents the states.
That arrangement needs to be somehow used in the way we choose our President and Vice President. The electoral college sorta does it.
Correct. Read the Federalist Papers to get the context about how our Founding Fathers arrived at providing protections for the smaller states so they would join the Union. The 10th amendment basically gives the states all the power over self- governance save for the limited powers of the federal government spelled out in the Constitution.
We have a representative Republic, not a democracy. The Electoral College is a vehicle to protect States rights. The number of electoral
votes for each state is the sum of their number of senators and representatives in the House. Why does each state, regardless of size, have just two senators? Under the concept of federalism, the Senate is where the states are equal. We would never have had a United States of America without these protections for the smaller states and a Constitution that limited the role of the central government.
The States are not administrative units, but rather co-equals in a federal republic. Abolishing the Electoral College is antithetical to the basic concept of federalism and the Constitution.
Who the heck is this vapid writer????
We dont live in a democracy
Why post nonsense???
Liberals want to convert the electoral college to an elementary school popularity contest.
Heck, lets just do away with voting and use “likes” on Instagram.
Yup. The national vote count is irrelevant. It is many small elections, not just one big one.
Hard to be prez when you cant carry your home state. Trump is an exception to that rule.
So very glad Gore did lose. What a mess of a presidency that would have been! There might be a better solution than the electoral college, but direct popular vote ain’t it. The corruption we already have would be multiplied.
I don’t admire democracy. I despise it.
Democracy is two wolves and sheep voting on dinner.
It is mob rule.
The electoral college means that there is a limit to the power of the megalopolises on the east and west coasts.
If you want to know what democracy is like, look at how NYC dictates to the rest of New York state.
Of course the Commies think the Electoral College is a bad thing. It prevents them from marginalizing the majority of America. The Rats believe by having a stranglehold on the major cities, they earned the right to steal elections. Yes indeed, The Founders certainly had it correct!
The Founding Fathers knew the history of democracy and how no country or nation could last for long with direct democracy. It would turn into mob rule. A republican form of government has the best hope of enduring, especially one with a constitution protecting the rights of the individual. If you want to repeat the destructive for of democracy, destroy the electoral college.
ML/NJ
Excellent post! Another way is to look at the county-by-county red/blue map for 2016 and remember that the founding fathers wanted the president to have widespread support, not narrow support. Almost the entire country is red while only the cities are blue.
The author is a PhD Political Scientist. Go figure.
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