Posted by Snowie on November 11, 2000, at 22:04:08
In reply to Re: I know who the President is!!!!!!!!, posted by noa on November 9, 2000, at 7:17:14
IMH-nonpartisan-O, the Electoral College is an archaic relic from our forefathers (not to be confused with the U.S. Constitution). In this enlightened, information age, there is no need for an intermediary between the People and the Presidential candidates. Consequently, the Electoral College serves no real purpose except to confuse and frustrate, and should be abolished. And while we're making changes, why not change the election from a weekday to the weekend, when most people are closest to their voting precincts? And I'm tired of the old excuses: "It's tradition." It was tradition to use a horse and buggy a century ago, but thank goodness that didn't stop progress.
Snowie
> I have been thinking that the electoral college is not relevant to our times. It was relevant perhaps when the average voter had no access to information about the candidates. But we have instantaneous and voluminous access to info. Seems to be unnecessary to me.
>
> I have been asking myself, however, if I would feel this way if it were the other candidate who won the popular vote but was likely to lose the electoral college vote.
>
> I heard a commentator talk about how if we got rid of the EC the candidates would spend too much time campaigning in the large cities and on the coasts, and would ignore the less populated states. On the other hand, though, why is it fair that the residents of less populated states have slightly more influence per individual than those of us in more populated states (every state starts with 2 electors regardless of population)??
>
> I think it is time for this to change, but of course it is a hard battle--you need 2/3 of the congress( I don't know if it is both house and senate?) and 3/4 of the states to go along, I think.
poster:Snowie
thread:2336
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20001031/msgs/2549.html