Finally today, I know the election is long past
now, but is there still time for one more flip-flop, this one by
me? Ever since high school civics, I have believed the Electoral
College was a good thing, the only real way for the small states
to get the attention they deserve in a national election.
Well, I have changed my mind.
I was in California the week before the election and it had been a
sure thing for Kerry for so long that it was as if there was no
election out there. Californians and so many others in the sure
thing states just watched as nine or 10 states elected a
president. Somehow this just does not seem right to me.
Candidates spent so much time in the battleground states that
someone said they were going to towns that even Senate candidates
don't visit.
The small states do need attention, but what about the rest of the
states? And think of this. If John Kerry had won Ohio -- and he
almost did -- he would have been elected president even though
George Bush won the popular vote by nearly 3.8 million votes. It
was hard enough for Bush to govern after losing the popular vote
by a half million. Imagine a Democrat trying to govern as he faced
a Republican-controlled Congress after losing the popular vote by
3.8 million. It would have been four years of hard and fast
gridlock.
The Electoral College was a good idea that has outlived its
usefulness. We've spent enough time in the Electoral College to
graduate to something better like electing the candidate who gets
the most votes.
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