the little socialists who voted for bern, and bern himself, are getting a little taste of socialism, that's all
as far as the electoral college, its fine just as it is
we have a republic not a mobocracy, at least not yet, but the dims are wanting one
the electoral college is similar to the senate, respectful of the individual states
without the electoral college, some small states would have no say in the presidential election at all
federalism would be greatly damaged, ever more power would devolve to the central government
large urban areas would be where the candidates would concentrate, it would be all about getting out the most votes for the most promises where the population centers are. i think it would increase corruption, as if that were possible
Originally Posted by nevergaveitathought
You have it exactly backwards. The electoral college negates the input of smaller states, and gives inordinate sway to larger states. In order to win 100% of the electoral from a state, you need only secure the most votes, even if you don't earn 50.1%.
Lets say we have 5 states.
Four states each have a population of 200,000
One state has a population of 1 million
Electors are apportioned to each state according to population. For each 50,000 people you get 1 elector. So the 4 states each get 4 electors. The fifth state gets 20 electors.
Candidate A runs a nationwide campaign, visiting each state, and spending campaign dollars in every state on ads, events, etc. For his efforts in the smaller states, he receives 70% of the vote in the 4 small states. He earns 16 electors, and gets a total of 560,000. He gets 49.9% of the votes in the fifth state. He earns no electors there, but gets a total of 499,900 votes, for a total of 1,059,000 votes.
Candidate B is no dummy. He flies over the 4 small states, focusing only on the fifth state. He invests all of his resources on campaigning in that state. For his efforts he receives 50.1% of the vote in that state. He gets 20 electors, and 501,000 votes. In the smaller states he only earns a total of 240,000.
Candidate B wins the election with 20 electors to Candidate A's 16. However, Candidate A trounced his opponent in the popular vote with 1,059,000 to 741,000 votes.
In other words, THIS is why we see so little of the candidates out campaigning in Iowa (after the primaries that is), Kansas, Nebraska, and all the other "fly over" states. The electors in these states simply aren't worth the investment of time and resources to candidates.
In a system where every single vote counts the same as any other, then every vote counts, regardless of whether it is cast in Kansas, Texas, or California - making every state worth campaigning in, and speaking to.