Don't be so quick to
tear down the
Electoral College
The Electoral College is actually much more important to the assurances of
freedom and the
Rule of Law in our country than is readily
apparent. The Electoral College is a means by which smaller, less populous
States in the Union can
defend themselves
politically from larger, richer, more populous and
industrialized States. Without it,
Presidential candidates would need only
campaign on the issues that affect the
majority of
citizens in this country that live in large
urban areas, and the needs of the
minority living in
rural areas would be
abandoned.
The fact that a candidate can
win the
popular vote in the country and still
lose the
election is actually one of the positive
benefits of the system. It provides an avenue for
political minorities to have their
voices heard. It
prevents the majority from
tyrannizing the rest. It gives the
underdog a chance. It
ensures our ability to
dissent.
Along with the
freedom of speech and press, the Electoral College is one of the greatest
stabilizing agents in the
Federal Government.
It also makes your vote count MORE.
Your vote
holds more
clout against the other
voters of your State than it is
against the rest of the
country. That's
immediately obvious due to the
sheer difference in numbers. Likewise, your state's vote(s) are worth more in the National
election than your
individual vote would be worth. Your state votes,
determining the candidate who's platform represents the
greatest appeal based on the issues which are most important to your state. Then, you
consolidate your votes into an
Electorate and submit them against the other States.
But wait, you say.
I didn't vote for the person who won my state. Isn't my
vote wasted?
NO!
Remember that the
people around you are voting in their
collective interests. It is
natural to assume that the winner of your state will produce the
greatest collective benefit for your entire state (
yourself included). Arguably, you are voting for the candidate who will
settle the
issues that are important to you in your own
favor. If you think that the same issues that affect a rural
farmer in
Nebraska are important to an inner-city
mom in
New York, or a dot-com
tycoon in
California, you're a fool...this is why it is
important to
diffuse the
immense power that statewide
voting blocs (which would
naturally form anyway if the Electoral College was
removed) can have.
Think of a
presidential election as kind of the
World Series of
American Politics. Politicians campaign in their various
parties for a
nomination to the Election in much the same way that
baseball teams compete in their
leagues. When the big
event comes, each
state is an individual
game and each vote is a run. It is
not enough for a candidate to simply
score the most runs. The candidate must
strategically score the most runs in the
most games.
Backing back out of the
metaphor, this means the Candidate who adopts the
platform which represents the
greatest interest of the most
diverse groups of people will
almost always get
sifted to the top.
Even if he is the less popular one.