Posted on 08/11/2004 4:59:48 PM PDT by suzyq5558
I was just looking at the Red and Blue map and saw the BEST argument for the Electoral College ever! Check out California. Didn't it go to Albore in 2000? The state is predominantly red, and yet Bush lost it. Check and see what counties are blue..San Fran area . . .LA. . .
Those poor people in northern and outstate California. . .having to put up with those nincompoops in the populous areas.
Thank God I live in fly over country!!
With a direct popular vote for the Presidential Election, a close outcome could cause every vote in every precinct in the country to be challenged. Massive recounts, total chaos.
Look at Oregon.all red but the Portland Metro area. we have mass nicimpoops to contend with here!
I would not be surprised but would be disappointed if Bush wins the popular vote but loses the Electoral College voter.
This can happen by Bush Winning Big in Texas, the South and the Western Red States while Kerry runs just ahead of Bush in the NE, CA and Midwest.
I have actually had nightmares of this scenario.
indeed appropo.
when Gore lost and this whine went up, I compared it to
giving the World Series title to the team with the most runs, rather than most games won.Even if that was done,after the libs lost (again) they'd want to change the
rules(again) to most at bats or soemething else.
Oh and I see much of Lane Co. in the blue also.
So, LA, you can't get an accurate count of your illegal aliens. Well, those in jail, getting ER treatment or public welfare constitutes 38% of the total, therefore, we will deduct 38% of your population for congessional reapportionment-- one of your congress seats goes to Oklahoma, two to Pennsylvania and one to Utah. Now, let's move on to the next large metropolis and count their illegal alien population.
I'm going to go against the grain here. I believe that the EC is outdated and a handicap. Candidates currently don't have to fight for every vote in every state. They can just ignore the states that they feel they can either easily win or badly lose.
The EC also virtually guarantees that a third party vote is totally wasted, which is EXACTLY the way the top two parties want it.
Don't give me crap about how the EC saved us from Gore, the EC also gave us clinton.
Since no candidate had received a majority of the popular vote, a runoff would have been between the top two candidates, GHW Bush and clinton. George the Elder would have mopped up the floor with clinton.
Take away the Electoral College's ability to confer a presidential sheepskin, and that train blows through here faster than a tender moment between the Clintons.
Thanks ! I needed a good laugh !!! That is priceless !
I remember when Hillary Clinton was elected as Senator of New York. The first thing she suggested was getting rid of the Electoral College. It was enough for me to know we should keep it.
Why is it that people with a questionable education at best think they're smarter than the Founding Fathers? Even worse, why is it that so many of these pinheads get elected to Congress?
The electoral college is the last true vestige of the federal republic this nation was meant to be. It should be strengthened, not eliminated. State legislatures should become active once again in choosing electors, and the presidential election restored to what it was supposed to be--based on the votes of the States, not the Peepul.
Bump for later.
"Tyranny of the majority? "
There is such a thing. It is the current sense of the Congress that they can do pretty much anything that can get a majority vote and past the president. Unless the liberal judgess don't like it, of course.
Want an example of a tyranny of the majority closer to home? Home owners' associations.
But to as what your liberal friend is referring to, I have no idea, but is is my deeply held belief that the EC supresses third parties and the true diversity of ideas.
Additionally, the EC may not be as kind to Bush in 2004 as it was in 2000. This year it is quite possible that Bush may win the popular vore but lose the EC.
Boy, do I ever remember that!! The founding fathers were eternally smart and it seems understood the human factor in just about all cases. We have a republic and we shall stand that way.
When are Americans going to learn this is not a democracy? In fact, the concept of a democracy was dismissed out of hand at the Constitutional Convention. No democracy had ever succeeded, and democracy was considered equivalent to mob rule.
And maybe even LA wouldn't count. Elections would be over by the time the polls closed east of the Mississippi.
Just as the World Series is broken up into five of seven *games* that must be won-- the effect of the EC is to force a particular strategy on the players. It is quite possible that one team could get more runs in a series, and yet lose the series. But we want them to build their strategy around winning games.
It is a complete myth to even suggest that there is such a thing as a "popular vote" that can be counted. It cannot. Nobody actually knows those numbers for sure. There are (supposedly) states where ballots will remain uncounted if the total remaining cannot possibly change the outcome.
But more important than that: campaign strategy is wholly built around the EC model, and campaigning does affect the voting patterns. To compare a so-called "popular vote" count without recognizing that the campaign strategy was designed around key battleground states is to ignore the gorilla in the room.
Gaaak. Four of seven. [slapping self] [reaching for bourbon].
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.