David Esch's List: Essay 4: Electoal College

• . But under the Electoral College system, it would be highly unlikely that any candidate could win enough electoral votes by campaigning only in the 12 most populous states. A Democratic presidential candidate could probably count on winning New York, California, and Massachusetts. And a Republican would likely win the electoral votes of Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia. In order to win the minimum 270 electoral votes necessary to go to the White House, however, each would need to capture not only the larger so-called swing states — places such as Ohio and Florida where party strength is more evenly divided — but also states with smaller populations. Since all states are guaranteed at least three electoral votes, candidates cannot afford to neglect even these places.
• Let's Use the Electoral College to Give the United States a National Popular Vote for President
  By Jamie Raskin
• Majority rule is the heart of political democracy, but in the United States it is not the winner of the national popular vote who becomes president.
• U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs

2 more annotations...

• both - David Esch on 2010-04-07

• pro - David Esch on 2010-04-07

• First, it betrays the principle of majority rule, threatening every four years to deliver the White House to the popular-vote loser. Second, it reduces the general election contest to a matter of what happens in Ohio, Florida, and a handful of other swing states, leaving most Americans (who live in forsaken "red" and "blue" states) on the sidelines. This in turn depresses turnout and helps give us one of the worst rates of voter participation on earth. Third, because of its proven pliability, the Electoral College invites partisan operatives, legislators, secretaries of state and even Supreme Court justices to engage in constant strategic mischief and manipulation at the state level.

• pro - David Esch on 2010-04-06

• anti - David Esch on 2010-04-07

• anti - David Esch on 2010-04-06

• for - David Esch on 2010-04-07

• When a candidate ceases to adequately understand and represent one of "his" state's interests, the discontent in that state is usually expressed pretty quickly. 

   Consider the situation in West Virginia in recent decades.

• that considers the various different interests of this extended republi

• afely "blue" or "red" states where the competitive general election presidential campaign, for all practical purposes, has been reduced to a hollow formality
• commands vastly more political resources and attention than the dozen smallest states combined even though these small states collectively have double the number of electors.
• safe states

1 more annotation...

•  

  The Electoral College has been controversial throughout U.S. history. More than 700 proposals to change it have been introduced in Congress over the past 200 years. Critics -- many who favor direct election -- call the college anachronistic and anti-democratic.