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The electoral college is a failure. The Founding Fathers would probably agree (Mega Barf Alert)
Washington Compost ^ | April 8, 2019 | Joshua Spivak

Posted on 04/08/2019 3:09:25 PM PDT by EdnaMode

As the presidential campaign heats up, so too has the movement to abolish or otherwise neutralize the electoral college.

Some advocates argue that the electoral college was originally established to help less-populated states retain power, or to have every part of the country heard from in electing a chief executive. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) claims the system was designed to help the slave states.

But these are modern interpretations of what really happened at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The electoral college was designed with two purposes: to separate the branches of government in an attempt to avoid “cabals” and to prevent foreign corruption. Some of the Founding Fathers assumed it would almost never actually elect a president. In other words, we could say the electoral college failed to achieve most of what the founders designed it to do.

The electoral college was not a replacement for direct election — because that possibility never received serious consideration at the convention. (Only two of 11 states voted for a popular election of the president.) As James Madison’s notes make clear, there was very little support for a popular election of the president. The original idea in his influential Virginia Plan was that the new bicameral legislature — Congress — would itself gather to elect the executive, and the convention repeatedly returned to that idea.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2020election; districtofcolumbia; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; election2020; electoralcollege; faithlesselectors; fakenews; foundingfathers; howardschultz; jeffbezos; joshuaspivak; mediawingofthednc; nationalpopularvote; npv; partisanmediashills; presstitutes; smearmachine; spivak; starbucks; wasghintoncompost; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost
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To: EdnaMode

I had heard before that ALL of the popular vote difference was from California. Indeed, I looked this up yesterday to verify it for myself. Sure enough, if you subtract out Trump and Clinton votes from California, Trump wins the popular vote in the remaining 49 states.


41 posted on 04/08/2019 3:52:12 PM PDT by libertylover (Democrats hated Lincoln too.)
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To: EdnaMode

Not that I agree with this person’s interpretation of the Founder’s intent, but it’s quite amusing how the Founding Fathers are a bunch of worthless, dead, racist, irrelevant white guys until the Left wants to use them to act like they give a crap about this country’s political traditions and history.


42 posted on 04/08/2019 3:55:38 PM PDT by Stravinsky
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To: EdnaMode

In ‘92 when Clinton won with less than 50% of the popular vote the Ministry of Truth blathered on and on about how wonderful the Electoral College was because “it magnified and legitimized his victory”.


43 posted on 04/08/2019 3:56:42 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: EdnaMode

Yeah this whole electoral college thing cracks me up. You notice they are not trying to float a new constitutional amendment. Because they know they can’t win. This country is going to have to have a schism. 2 separate countries Or a civil war is going to be needed to reset the constitution to where it was right after the last civil war.


44 posted on 04/08/2019 3:59:20 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: The Pack Knight
replace it with election by state legislatures

where each state gets one vote.

45 posted on 04/08/2019 4:08:07 PM PDT by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Gone but not forgiven.)
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To: EdnaMode

Fine. It’s a failure.

As soon as you get 2/3 of each House of Congress and 38 State Legislatures to agree, you can get rid of it.


46 posted on 04/08/2019 4:09:41 PM PDT by Jim Noble (Freedom is the freedom to say that 2+2 = 4)
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To: EdnaMode

For Democrats, the electoral college is only a failure when they lose. If they win via the electoral college then they claim it’s a masterpiece created by our founding fathers.


47 posted on 04/08/2019 4:10:06 PM PDT by From The Deer Stand
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To: libertylover

That’s pretty incredible that one state could make the entire difference in popular vote.


48 posted on 04/08/2019 4:10:35 PM PDT by EdnaMode
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To: Fiddlstix
TRUMP LAND
49 posted on 04/08/2019 4:10:56 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: EdnaMode

Wapo idiot quotes super idiot Steve Cohen. Great.


50 posted on 04/08/2019 4:16:25 PM PDT by Luke21 (Vote, vote, vote doesn't work, work work.)
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To: EdnaMode

Back when I was in HS, when we studied Civics, we were taught the reasoning behind the Electoral College. Rural areas feared getting exploited by urban areas. The Electoral College was established so that rural areas would not lose their voice in choosing a President. Logically, if the Electoral College is ever abolished, it should follow that the nation splits into individual states.


51 posted on 04/08/2019 4:16:46 PM PDT by grania ("We're all just pawns in their game")
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To: EdnaMode
Yeah, that's why they put everything in the Constitution. Because they expected failure.

(No, I haven't read any other comments yet.)

52 posted on 04/08/2019 4:17:13 PM PDT by real saxophonist (One side has guns and training. Other side's primary concern is 'gender identity'. Who's gonna win?)
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To: EdnaMode

BS, our founding fathers took precautions to prevent mob rule by the larger colonies.
The smaller colonies would never have joined without those precautions.

So it would make great since, be totally logical, if the smaller states, the red states, told the union to F off if they tried to implement mob rule today.

So lefty, put this where the sun does not shine and spin on it.


53 posted on 04/08/2019 4:17:48 PM PDT by oldenuff35
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To: The Pack Knight

Can you imagine the nightmare of trying to figure out the outcome of a popular vote? Cheating would be out of control.


54 posted on 04/08/2019 4:18:28 PM PDT by grania ("We're all just pawns in their game")
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To: Vaquero

I’d prefer it be reset to before the so-called civil war.


55 posted on 04/08/2019 4:27:18 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVs.)
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To: EdnaMode

From now on, if someone wants to diss the Electoral College, just agree with but say a national popular vote is too unwieldy (imagine the nightmare of a nationwide recount) and too easy to rig. I think you should suggest a one county/one vote form of election.

The beauty is that it sounds fair so a lot of low-info voters would approve.


56 posted on 04/08/2019 4:29:45 PM PDT by OrangeHoof (Trump is Making the Media Grate Again)
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To: EdnaMode
"Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) claims the system was designed to help the slave states.”

Nahy, Steve. That would be the Democratic Party, you one you are in. It was formed to keep tghe white man in charge whether by slavery or the KKK.

But that never bothered you, did it?
57 posted on 04/08/2019 4:32:49 PM PDT by RedMonqey ("Those who turn their arms in for plowshares will be doing the plowing for those who didn't.")
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To: EdnaMode

It is incredible. Without counting either candidates votes in California Trump wins the popular vote 57+ million to 55+ million. Here’s the link if anyone wants to check my arithmetic.

https://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president/


58 posted on 04/08/2019 4:32:54 PM PDT by libertylover (Democrats hated Lincoln too.)
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To: EdnaMode
Dear Joshua. In reality, it's not the ‘electoral’ college that is a failure, but the current iteration of ‘colleges’ as institutions of free-thought and intellectual pursuit that are undeniable failures. It is university-based ‘intellectualism’ that is a pathetic failure. Colleges have become the anti-compasses for finding one’s way to enlightenment.

As the recent shameful college admissions scandal has illustrated, universities are clearly not beacons of moralism and propriety. The Founding Fathers, who lived during a time when colleges were often founded as divinity schools, would be appalled at what institutions such as Wagner where you are a ‘fellow’ have become - echo chambers and ‘finishing schools’ for those who are looking for a ticket to societal connections.

The majority of you who hide behind slogans like ‘diversity’ are anything but diverse. You are so monolithic in your politically correct opinions and pronouncements such that you are no different or less predictable than a group of old Grateful Dead groupies who still drive Volkswagen microbuses with peace symbol bumper stickers. You would have to learn a lot to raise yourself to the level of stupid.

59 posted on 04/08/2019 4:33:53 PM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: EdnaMode

The Washington Compost is an enemy of the United States of America. The Founding Fathers would probably agree.


60 posted on 04/08/2019 4:43:48 PM PDT by Carl Vehse
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