The worst college in America

March 14, 2006

I’ve never cared for the Electoral College. I appreciate its historical origins, and the power it allegedly extends to smaller states, but the system is, to put it mildly, flawed. It can (and has) produced presidents who came in second, it can depress turnout, and it shifts candidates’ attention to just those “battleground” states that remain competitive at the end of a campaign.

The New York Times editorialized today on an innovative new proposal for states to take the lead in undoing the Electoral College.

The answer to all of these problems is direct election of the president. Past attempts to abolish the Electoral College by amending the Constitution have run into difficulty. But National Popular Vote, which includes several former members of Congress, is offering an ingenious solution that would not require a constitutional amendment. It proposes that states commit to casting their electoral votes for the winner of the national popular vote. These promises would become binding only when states representing a majority of the Electoral College signed on. Then any candidate who won the popular vote would be sure to win the White House.

It sounds like it’d be an improvement. It’ll be interesting to see if this catches on.

CB, I love your optimism.
However, the behavior of the Republicans for the previous decade has demonstrated that they are no longer trustworthy partners in governing this nation.
I would sooner stick my head in the jaws of a hungry alligator than trust that the Republicans would honor their part in any deal like this.

  • I agree with buzz, they can manipulate this system currently in place quite well, I doubt will want to give up their power to the majority of what the people want.

  • The moment the Republican candidate wins the popular vote but loses the electoral college, this idea will catch on.

  • Runners up:
    Patrick Henry College
    Liberty University
    Phoenix “University”
    Ave Maria University
    University of Colorado at Boulder (hey, I’m from Nebraska. So sue me)

  • I agree something needs to be done, but what concerns me in this proposal is that instead of focusing attention on ‘a handful of battleground states’, it will permanently focus attention on a handful of BIG cities. You can see why the New York Times would be for it. As for the rest of us, reasons to sign on remain murky.

  • Venone,

    Why should my vote count less than someone from Wyoming since I live in NY? For that matter, what about the republicans who live in NY. Should their vote not count? Besides the fact, how many times have presidential hopefuls visited states like Wyoming or Idaho? Also, the battleground states tend to be states with significant electoral votes. So it’s not like these states would not be receiving visits in the future. If you’re looking at it purely city/rural, I really don’t see how this would be any different than it is today.

  • Isn’t the President of the United States of America Under God entitled to an Up Or Down Vote?

    Just askin’ ;>

  • It would never make it with today’s Supreme Court , but I’ve never understood why they just don’t declare the Electoral College an anachronism, in conflict with other principles of modern government (like their “one man, one vote” rule). Same with the the “first Tuesday after the first Monday in November” date for elections. We’re not yeoman farmers anymore. Why not a mail-in (paper record) vote – counted by real humans rather than Diebold – on a Saturday, when most people are off work and can devote at least a couple hours to studying the issue and candidates?

    The hillbillies were over-represented when the Constitution was originally drafted. They had to be or it never would have been ratified. Jefferson (a hero of mine, albeit with some defects by our standards) would never have been elected without counting non-voting blacks as 3/5 of person for census purposes. The hillbillies are still over-represented in that antique institution called the US Senate. Why re-enforce governance by hillbillies with the outdated Electoral College?

  • Possible, but if the Dems resurged, it seems to me that it would be entirely reasonable for us to put through a constitutional amendment bill. And if they don’t resurge, at least in the states, then it’s not likely to happen, anyways — not unless it’s the Repubs who get burned.

    Of course, the “don’t do anything controversial because it might affect my chances to be re-elected” congressional Democrats aren’t likely to make any such moves.

  • Good ol’ Electorial U seems to favor frat boys and is influenced by good ol boy boosters. Perhaps the NCAA should investigate and take away some republican scholarships.

  • Ed Stephan, as more voting goes to mail-in, the probability of scandals related to vote buying or coercion increases. Voting by mail eliminates the secret ballot, and that’s not a good thing.

  • You know, things are bad enough in states like Illinois, where the large city (Chicago) imposes its rules over the rest of the state… You want to make the whole country like that?

  • Will,
    Hey, at least you’re not from Texas:) And Callahan will take us to the promised land………………..
    maybe.

    Hell, I’d be happy with just the Big XII North title.
    That’s how far Husker Nation has fallen.

  • Worst College?

    Eastern Kentucky and Vanderbilt at least from the alumni that I’ve encountered recently.

  • Rege, you _really_ needed to drop a comma in there somewhere…

    It seems like many of the other folks on this forum are not stereotyping closed-minded people who are full of hate.

  • When it comes to stereotyping I really prefer to stereotype those that are close-minded and full of hate. There’s really no point in stereotyping open-minded people who are not full of hate. The former are much more fun to poke fun at. For no other reason than they are caricatures of themselves.

  • You know, things are bad enough in nations like the United States, where votes cast in the thinly-populted states count more than those cast in cities … You want to make the whole country like that? Oh, wait …

  • I think this is a terrible idea. It means that states give up the one thing that most represents the idea of UNITED States. If we’re going to do this, what’s the point of state government at all? Yes, I understand that there are undesirable effects from having the EC. But are we sure there would be no significant flaw in direct election?

    By the way, One Man, One Vote, specifically refers the House. The Senate makes no attempt at proportional representation at all.

  • Well, this “union” originally started as a bunch of _separate_ states. And the founding old dead white guys were a little worried that the folks in Boston or Philly would end up trying to run the whole shebang.

    Quite frankly, I could see a situation where candidates concentrate their bread and circuses upon only a few major cities, and win. Those cities get more bread. More circuses. And start voting more often to take more from the surrounding area. Eventually, I suppose, the surrounding area would have enough, and cease delivery.

    You’ve got maybe three days of food. What would happen if the folks in “flyover country” decided that they didn’t need to make the deliveries? I think that by day 3-4, things would start to unravel, and a week in, you’d have situations in the cities that make New Orleans look like a mild training exercise.

  • Wow. Bitch, bitch, bitch. Just because you don’t or CAN’T understand the electorial college system doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. The system is not flawed. For those that can’t grasp the concept, just call the electorial votes “points” instead, maybe, just maybe you might get it. If not, the candidate would only need to get the votes from 10 large cities & screw the rest of the country. Get over it already. You’ll have another chance to vote your guy or gal into office. And guess what, if the Republican gets the majority of the votes in addition to the electorial votes…I’m sure you’ll think of another way to say that the “system” is flawed. (hanging chads anyone?)

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