Posted on 10/03/2004 6:06:44 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
Bumpitttt.
Show me someone who condemns the electoral college process and I'll show you an idiot who didn't pay attention in American History.....
here is something you may enjoy
A couple years ago I wrote for the American Academy of Actuaries an article on the Electoral College. It was published in their magazine, Contingencies. I did the simple math to point out that small states who gain from the Electoral College were enough to defeat an amendment against the College in the Senate, and far more than enough to defeat it on ratification.
But, contrary to this article, I did some of the math to show that if District voting were used in all states, not just in Maine and Nebraska, the final election of Presidents would be closer two, though still not identical to, the popular vote model.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "And the Debate Winner is -- Lemony Snicket"
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Or believes that his neighbors will always pay more taxes than he so he has "nothing" to lose...
Thanks for the article. It would be nice if this stuff were properly taught in high school. My high school teacher instead preached how unfair the system was because of the possibility of a popular vote loser to win the presidency.
THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 5, 2004: Hands off the Electoral College
Bump for later reading.
Thanks for digging this article up -- very interesting. I like the baseball analogy.
I promised another Freeper I would post it in October when I posted a link to the article back in early September.
Thank you for posting this. I saved that magazine for a long, long while and finally lost track of where I had put it. I thought I would never locate this excellent article again.
It is the best explanation of the electoral college I have ever seen.
God bless our founders and their infinite wisdom.
Thank you for posting this. I saved that magazine for a long, long while and finally lost track of where I had put it. I thought I would never locate this excellent article again.
It is the best explanation of the electoral college I have ever seen.
God bless our founders and their infinite wisdom.
To put it even more simply, it forces candidates to appeal to the country as a whole, and not to a few (or one) specific consituencies. It strongly inhibits regional candidacies - thereby maintaining a cohesive population, while not blocking variability.
As a side-effect, it also limits the effects of election fraud, requiring to be widespread in order to actually affect races; it makes recounts possible; and it makes sure that we actually do end up with a President, rather than keeping everything tied up in the courts throughout what should be a new President's term.
I think the risk that the moderate sized blocks create to a candidate who has the popular vote in-hand is a great benefit to the nation as a whole, as he must maintain a battle in lots of different places, thereby forcing him to appeal to more people. It may not sink him, but if every once in a while it does so, the risk is there, and the individuals in the nation are paid much more heed to.
I'd like your opinion on this article.
Aren't you the Freeper who performed a statistical study on voting patterns in Florida in the 2000 elections?
Long. Worth reading.
Long but well worth the read.
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