Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The electoral college is a failure. The Founding Fathers would probably agree (Mega Barf Alert)
Washington Compost ^ | April 8, 2019 | Joshua Spivak

Posted on 04/08/2019 3:09:25 PM PDT by EdnaMode

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 last
To: EdnaMode

The only “failure”, if you will, is that the Framers intended the electors to choose the president, which is partially undermined by pledged electors.

Technically, nobody here voted for Trump. The vote was for electors who pledged to go to the state capital and vote for Trump. (All but two of the 306 he won did so. Five of Hillary’s 232 electors voted for someone else.)

The Framers did not anticipate that. They anticipated that citizens would pick fellow citizens they trusted, who would then choose the president.

Of course, that went away pretty much after Washington left office.


81 posted on 04/08/2019 8:35:16 PM PDT by TBP (Progressives lack compassion and tolerance. Their self-aggrandizement is all that matters.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

The author says the founders did not want either a direct election, or Congress to choose the president. Then he claims they thought Congress would end up choosing most of the time anyway. Since it didn’t end up with Congress deciding they would be disappointed. It’s a failure because it works, therefore it should be abolished in favor of direct election which was never seriously considered and which the college was designed to prevent. That’s some tortured logic there.


82 posted on 04/08/2019 10:14:24 PM PDT by Hugin ("Not one step from his weapons should a traveler take"...Havamal 38)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: the OlLine Rebel

You want slavery?


83 posted on 04/09/2019 3:56:17 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

The founding fathers would be disguested with someone like Joshua Spivak AND the company he works for - according toi an ‘un-named source’.

MLK and George Washington and Mahatma Gandhi wouldn’t like them either. Even Albert Einstein would want Spivak OUT of OUR country ... along with everyone else at the Washington Post...


84 posted on 04/09/2019 4:55:16 AM PDT by GOPJ (When was the last time you heard a MSNBC bimbo use the phrase 'undocumented worker'? It's a win!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Valk Rider

In a pure democracy, it is indeed possible for 51% to take away the rights of the 49%.

In the United States, we do not live in a pure democracy. The Founding Fathers brilliantly created a democratic republic. The Electoral College is the cornerstone. It cannot be taken away without an Amendment to the Constitution which is not too easy a task.


85 posted on 04/09/2019 5:38:49 AM PDT by New Jersey Realist ( (Be Nice To Your Kids. They Will Pick Out Your Nursing Home))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode
The electoral college is a failure

Who did it fail?

86 posted on 04/09/2019 6:03:15 AM PDT by MosesKnows
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

The Russians agree.


87 posted on 04/09/2019 6:07:38 AM PDT by Leep (It's.. (W)all or nothing..!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: digger48
Which would give the Democrat just 15-16% of the total votes

Exactly! I don't think even Obama won a majority of counties. But it *sounds* fair, doesn't it?

88 posted on 04/09/2019 7:10:56 AM PDT by OrangeHoof (Trump is Making the Media Grate Again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

The only flaw in the EC is that California and New York get too many electoral votes.


89 posted on 04/09/2019 8:24:03 AM PDT by subterfuge (RIP T.P.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: subterfuge

Considering how their numbers are propped up by millions of foreigners, you are 100% correct.


90 posted on 04/09/2019 8:29:06 AM PDT by The Toll
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode
I've noticed an increase in activist headlines these days, this being one of them.

It's not enough to declare displeasure with the Electoral College; by adding the bit about the Founding Fathers agreeing, the author is playing a little psyops with the reader.

Most people who know history know that the states would never have ratified the Constitution if there weren't protections for the smaller states' ability to choose the president.

There is no way that the Founding Fathers would declare the Electoral College to be a failure.

-PJ

91 posted on 04/09/2019 8:33:27 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: New Jersey Realist

Democrats don’t play by the rules.


92 posted on 04/09/2019 1:50:27 PM PDT by Valk Rider
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: Nifster

You are wrong
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stay tuned!


93 posted on 04/09/2019 1:51:25 PM PDT by Valk Rider
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

and they are called the several states in law
CITE- 19 USC Sec. 2601 -EXPCITE- TITLE 19 CHAPTER 14 -HEAD- Sec. 2601. Definitions
(10) The term ‘United States’ includes the several States, the District of Columbia, and any
territory or area the foreign relations for which the United States is responsible.


94 posted on 04/10/2019 8:08:48 PM PDT by kvanbrunt2 (spooks won on day 76)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson