[Rakkasan1]

...said the basic premise is understandable even to children.

which must be why dims are so fond of this idea

[tomzz]

One it's not clear to me that Gore won the popular vote in 00 and, two, Kerry lost the popular vote very badly.

[dfwgator]

So what happens when the nationwide popular vote is only separated by a few thousand votes, then you have to recount every single ballot in the whole county, as opposed to only recounting the ballots in one state.

[clintonh8r]

A blatant attempt to subvert the voices of the red states, because, as we all know, the smart people live in the blue states. (Do I really need a sarc. tag?)

[groanup]

If you ever have a need to find a stupid poitician one place to start looking is the California legislature.

[Physicist]

But the power of the Electoral College lies with the smaller states. How does California propose to get West Virginia, for example, to go along with this proposal?

[Mark was here]

The Electoral College allowed smaller states to feel protected in joining a union with the larger ones. This was a condition of joining the union. If the deal is broken, should the states be free to leave the union? Just as a broken marriage vow is grounds for divorce.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

This move would actually benefit the GOP far more than the Democrats. It effectively puts California into play with a high probability of going red, whereas right now it's a sure-bet blue state.

[RightWhale]

Picking away at the basis of the country. One little thing here, one little thing there.

[jeffc]

People don't elect the President, States do . . . .

[Mike Darancette]

We must remind California Democrats that their vote for President means NOTHING!

[Niteranger68]

"In 2004, for example, Kerry lost the national vote but won by 10 percentage points in California."

You're kidding...

[DuncanWaring]

"When you're in first grade, if the person who got the second-most votes became class leader, the kids would recognize that this is not a fair system," he said.

"When you're in first grade, if you have to eat your vegetables before you get the ice cream, the kids would recognize that this is not a fair system,".

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Doesn't the Electoral College system help ensure that the President represents the whole country? If the voters in a few heavily populated states could determine the outcome (because they would determine the popular vote) wouldn't Presidential candidates pander to urbanized areas and ignore rural states?

[GSWarrior]

When you're in first grade, if the person who got the second-most votes became class leader, the kids would recognize that this is not a fair system," he said

Bad analogy. Either these politicians are completely ignorant, or they are banking that the voters are.

[taxcontrol]

A fair system would be to have the electoral vote for each congressional district go the the winner of that district and then have the two state votes go to the overall winner of the state.

[FreedomCalls]

Unconstitutional. Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution:

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

[sig226]

It would have been kind of funny to watch them throw their votes to Bush in 2004. I'll bet that if they pass it, and they have to give the votes to a Republican in a close race in 2008, it will be rescinded in the next legislative session.

[Publius6961]

Assemblyman Tom Umberg, a Santa Ana Democrat who chairs the Assembly Election and Redistricting Committee, said the basic premise is understandable even to children.
"When you're in first grade, if the person who got the second-most votes became class leader, the kids would recognize that this is not a fair system," he said.

Well, he certainly proves his implicit premise. Trouble is he's a grownup, not in first grade.
First of all our country is not a first-grade class.
Secondly, first-grade classes do not consist of free independent states agreeing to join a Republic, a concept that takes a little more sophistication to understand than can be found in the first grade.

I would go on and into the importance of a limited central government, a concept too "grown up" politically, economically and socially, for Umberg and his classmates. Suffice to say that, during the founding of our country, the electoral system was argued at length, and has been with us 203 years for very important reasons.

If those reasons are no longer valid, let the second graders of the country try to fix it the proper way: through a Constitutional Amendment.

[ThePythonicCow]

Assemblyman Tom Umberg, a Santa Ana Democrat ..., said:

"When you're in first grade, if the person who got the second-most votes became class leader, the kids would recognize that this is not a fair system"

So I guess we should select as the winner of baseball's World Series whichever team scores the most runs that year, regardless of which team wins the playoffs.

Yeah - Mr. Umberg is probably right. Since we teach our school children it's all about "feeling good" and "fairness means equal results, not equal opportunity", and since we teach them next to nothing about our constitution and form of government, most children in our public schools probably would think this way about our elections.

And yes, Mr. Umberg is applying first grade logic to this situation, with a manifest inability to read, understand and honor the Constitution that one would expect of a five year old.

What ever happened to following the damn rules, sir?

From The Constitution of the United States Article I, Section 10:

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Such utter disregard for our Constitution is disgusting.