Posted on 11/27/2020 4:22:11 AM PST by Kaslin
One must read to the end of The Washington Post's editorial, "Abolish the electoral college," before hitting on the real reason the Post's editors want to upend the long-standing constitutional institution. "Mr. Trump's election was a sad event for the nation," notes the Post, "his reelection would have been a calamity."
Maybe, maybe not. That's a matter of partisan perspective. Those who are genuinely concerned about the future of American governance would be calling to strengthen institutions that provide political stability, not destroy them. But when your concerns about "American democracy" are really just a euphemism for partisan power grabs, you end up making lots of sloppy arguments.
Like so:
"It is alarming that a candidate came so close to winning while polling more than 5 million fewer votes than his opponent nationwide. The Electoral College, whatever virtues it may have had for the Founding Fathers, is no longer tenable for American democracy."
The fact that the Electoral College doesn't align with the "popular vote" isn't alarming; it is the point. If the Electoral College synchronized with the outcome of the direct democratic national vote tally every election, it wouldn't need to exist. It isn't a loophole; it is a bulwark.
The Electoral College exists to diffuse the very thing the Post claims is most beneficial: the "overbearing majority," as James Madison put it. If majoritarianism is truly always the best means of deciding an issue, then the Post would support a mere majority of states being able to overturn the First Amendment or decide abortion policy.
But if states still matter, then the Electoral College's "virtues" are far stronger today, in an era when federalism is ignored and Americans are more likely to cluster in urban areas, than it was in the founding generation when Washington was largely powerless. It is one of the institutions that makes a "democracy" tenable in a truly diverse and sprawling nation.
On the most basic level, the Electoral College helps compel presidents to govern nationally rather than represent a handful of states. We saw it when Biden was forced to temper his positions on fracking and defunding the police because he had to appeal to those outside of urban areas. If he is to be successful, Biden must govern in ways that are popular to diverse cultural and geographical areas -- such as North Carolina, Wisconsin and Arizona, and not just California and New York.
Running up the score in big states gives partisan activists fodder, but it is irrelevant. If Donald Trump ran for the national vote, he might well have won it by spending all his time in California and New York talking about things that matter to Californians and New Yorkers. The entire dynamics of elections would be different. Our election is geared toward winning states, not people.
It should also be noted that the system The Washington Post wants to nix has been the most stable in the world. A direct national poll would be a radical change, even by international standards. Most free nations don't have democratic majority votes for their executives. Parliamentary systems, for example, are not national polls. Between 1935 and 2017, the majority of British voters backed the party that formed a government on only two occasions. Voters do not even cast a ballot directly for the prime minister. In 2019, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau "lost" the "popular vote." By eliminating the Electoral College, we are far more likely to spark the creation of smaller parties that would keep presidents from gaining a majority.
Of historical interest: Vladimir Putin was elected through a direct national poll.
I will spend the rest of my life pointing out that presidents don't "win" or "lose" the popular vote -- because there is no "popular vote," nor has there ever been one, nor does anyone compete for it. Just today, Reuters informed us, "Trump's open defiance of Biden's victory in both the popular vote and Electoral College appears to be affecting the public's confidence in American democracy." The entire statement, from "popular vote" to "American democracy," makes me cringe. It's this kind of coverage that allows The Washington Post and other critics of traditional constitutional governance to convince its audiences that presidents are winning elections even while really "losing" them. It bodes poorly for our future.
The manner in which the election was corrupted-in so many states and in the same fashion in each state - should automatically take the issue out of those states hands and courts.
It obviously is an external assault upon those states=-making it a Federal issue
The Electoral College should be post-poned until this emergency has been clarified and remedied
“Mr. Trump’s election was a sad event for the nation,” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Thats anoutright LIE. President Trump created Operation Warp speed and allowed Companies to speedily develope vaccines with 90% plus efficacy, and also streamlined the FDA approval process.This will bring the Wuhan Virus pandemic to an end, not just in our country, but around the world.
Additionally
A list of accomplishments of President Trump:
International recognition
President Trump received three separate nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize
Economy
Prior to the Covid 19 forced shutdown of the economy:
Almost 4 million jobs created since 2016 election.
More Americans are now employed than ever recorded before in our history.
Created more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since 2016 election.
Manufacturing jobs grew at the fastest rate in more than three decades.
Economic growth has been as high as 4.2 percent.
New unemployment claims hit a 49-year low.
Median household income hit highest level ever recorded.
The Wall Street Journal’s Eric Morath and Jeffrey Sparshott report: “Pay for the bottom 25% of wage earners rose 4.5% in November from a year earlier, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Wages for the top 25% of earners rose 2.9%. Similarly, the Atlanta Fed found wages for low-skilled workers have accelerated since early 2018, and last month matched the pace of high-skill workers for the first time since 2010.”
African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, women and youth unemployment were the lowest rates ever recorded.
Lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for Americans without a high school diploma.
Veterans’ unemployment recently reached its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.
Since Covid 19 arrived from China, the economy is now recovering. The pace of the recovery is slowed by Democrat run states not opening their economies.
Tax relief
An Opportunity Zone is a designation and investment program created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowing for certain investments in lower income areas to have tax advantages.
The biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in history. All economic classes benefited.
Small businesses will have the lowest top marginal tax rate in more than 80 years.
Healthcare
Providing more affordable healthcare options for Americans through association health plans and short-term duration plans. They will cover pre-existing conditions
Preserving the 180M health plans provided by employers
Many drug companies are freezing or reversing planned price increases.
Reformed the Medicare program, saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone.
Signed Right-To-Try legislation.
Secured $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
Reduced high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent during first year in office.
Signed VA Choice Act and VA Accountability Act, expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.
COVID-19
In response to China’s efforts to spread COVID-19, not in China, but worldwide, China citizens were stopped from entering the USA. it is estimated that there would have been death numbers in the millions.
Military
Secured record military funding leading to a restoration of world-wide strength.
Encouraged NATO allies to spend $69 billion more since 2016.
Judiciary
Given the lack of judges left by Obama/Biden, more circuit court judges have been confirmed than any other new administration.
Will have had three Supreme Court Justices confirmed by the end of October.
Unlike Biden/Harris/Sanders/AOC, President Trump has no interest in packing the Supreme Court.
Energy
Facilitated fracking.
Became energy independent.
The United States is now a net exporter of cheap natural gas for the first time since 1957.
From the Wall Street Journal: “Energy-related CO2 emissions in the U.S. fell 2.8% last year. The U.S. saw the largest decline in energy-related CO2 emissions in 2019 on a country basis due to a 15% reduction in the use of coal”
Treaties
Facilitated treaties between Israel and two Middle East countries.
Moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
A U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal to replace NAFTA.
An agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports.
Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices.
The above, and more, was accomplished in four years.
For the Democrats to eliminate the Electoral College they would need 2/3 of the House and Senate and 2/3 of the state legislatures to vote in favor of elimination. Not a chance of that happening.
“The manner in which the election was corrupted-in so many states and in the same fashion in each state - should automatically take the issue out of those states hands and courts.
It obviously is an external assault upon those states=-making it a Federal issue
The Electoral College should be post-poned until this emergency has been clarified and remedied.”
BINGO!
That’s not how they will eliminate the electoral college,(by a constitutional amendment). The method they will use is to get a few more states to join the “270 compact”. They will then pass an approval of the multi-state 270 compact, (which is required by the constitution). Technically the electoral college will still be in the constitution but in reality it will have been made moot. It will be an end run around the constitution orchestrated by a few large liberal states with the red states having zero say on who is elected president. Add voter fraud on steroids and there will never be a moderate or conservative president again.
bump
We’ve already had a pretty good idea what life would be like if a few of the states ran the whole country. This is exactly what it would be without the electoral college. I think most of those folks wanting to eliminate it fall into 2 categories; those who have no idea what the electoral college is about & those who know exactly what it is about but want a couple states with large voting numbers to run everything. Just look at what is happening in New York & California. Who in their right mind would want that for their state?
All the sub-90-IQ morons fall for the easy answers.
“Let’s just have a popular vote” is easier for morons to understand than the electoral college.
They cannot grasp that without the electoral college, presidential candidates will just campaign in the 20 biggest Rat-run Blue Hive Vote Harvesting Plantations.
Excellent
The Electoral College is at a cross roads Honesty or communism it’s a coin toss with today logic of most.
Spot on the easy way out is last thing you see.
The paths always have turns to the way out of trouble.
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