Re: OT: Electoral College [Re: U.S. federal income tax program]
On Sunday 28 August 2005 06:48 pm, Roberto C. Sanchez wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 28, 2005 at 05:50:48PM -0700, Paul Johnson wrote:
> > On Sunday 28 August 2005 04:51 pm, John Hasler wrote:
> > > > 20% approval ratings from it's own citizens. That speaks fathoms
> > > > about how trustworthy the US government is right now.
> > >
> > > Those are the same citizens who elected George Bush. Their opinions
> > > are irrelevant.
> >
> > That's not how it works. Only 537 people are allowed to vote for
> > president in the United States, and their votes are not legally bound to
> > the popular vote for the state they represent in most states. Americans
> > cannot vote for their own president.
>
> That's like saying that American's don't get to pass their own laws
> since only 537 people can initiate/vote on federal legislation. The
> electoral college has a very specific purpose, to prevent the mob rule
> from swaying election results.
And yet it enables it so well...
> Not to say that what the people want/think is unimportant, because it is.
> However, if we had direct popular election of the President, we would have a
> situation where the candidates would only need to campaign in the most
> populous/densely populated areas.
Until each state gets exactly the same number of votes, this is true anyway.
Otherwise it's just straw.
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