Why We Need the Electoral College (Rush Limbaugh)

Rushlimbaugh.com ^

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

RUSH: They weren’t taught about the Founding Fathers. They weren’t taught about the concept of federalism. You can’t understand the Electoral College unless you know what federalism is, and federalism is one of these terms that, in many cases, means the exact opposite of the word as it’s currently applied. The word “federalism” you might think that means federalism trumps everything; federalism means federal domination. It does not mean that. It means the exact opposite, in fact. It means the states are sovereign and the federal government cannot tell ’em what to do in so many different ways.

But I think you are very close with your assessment of population centers. The founders did not want population centers to dictate to the rest of the country. They had already seen that happen in Europe in their day, and they had seen the kind of people that gravitate toward various areas. I mean, even in the early days of the country when it was largely an agrarian or agricultural, farmer-type of economy. There were still cities; there were still elites. There were widely different ways of thinking, and there were various different power locations and power points, and the popular vote was considered a way of relegating a lot of people to irrelevance based on population center and the fact that the country is always changing and always shifting. The primary purpose of the Electoral College is to maintain the power of the states and to support the idea that the election is decided by the states. It’s not decided by the general population, and it never was.

The Electoral College has been with us since the first days of the country.

[Diversity Is Our Weakness]

I’ve been complaining for years about that horrible world “federalism.” It actually means STATES RIGHTS and we should all support that esp since the 10A mandates it.

Don’t use the world “federalism”. Say STATES RIGHTS.

[Pelham]

“Federalism is one of these terms that, in many cases, means the exact opposite of the word as it’s currently applied.”

The original intent of federalism pretty much ended forever with Lincoln and the consolidation of power in the central government.

If you want to see the older meaning of federalism, playing the States off against overreach by the national goverment, you could look to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, authored by Jefferson and Madison.

https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/virginia-and-kentucky-resolutions-of-1798/#