Skip to main content

On the Electoral College

With all due respect to the wisdom and genius of the Founding Fathers, I believe they got one thing wrong: the electoral college.

It is completely understandable.  I sometimes forget that there were no other democracies at the time; they were breaking new ground.  Whenever I hear politicians or pundits dodge hard questions by saying they don't want to engage in speculation, I think, "What cowardice."  The Founders had no maps, no manuals, no precedents to inform them other than the ancient Greeks, whose democracies were only for a small minority of the people, or the democratic principles practiced by some Native American tribes.

So, it is understandable that they were hesitant to turn over all the power to all the people.  Even today, I think if we're honest, not many of us are completely comfortable with 100% suffrage.  I know I've felt that democracy is good, but I'm a little nervous about "those guys" voting.  "Those guys" might be different guys for all of us, but I think, if we're honest, we all have some trepidation about "some guys".

And so, it seems to me, they came up with a democracy that was limited to those whom they thought would best be given the franchise to vote: white, male property owners.  And not only that, but they put in what they thought would be a hedge against the radicals even in that select group.  They created an electoral body that could overrule the popular vote in the case that the majority went off the rails and wanted to elect someone too far outside the bounds of rationality.

I am not a presidential historian, so I can only guess as to the qualifications of all of our presidents.  But if ever there was a candidate who was obviously unqualified, but extremely charismatic to enough voters, it would be Donald Trump. If ever there was a candidate who, if in spite of garnering the popular vote, should be disqualified by the one safeguard the Founders created, it would be Trump.

Yet, exactly the opposite happened.  The unruly, sometimes ignorant or disinterested public, which now included not only white male property owners, but all adults of all races and backgrounds, including women, voted against Trump, while the electoral college put him in office.

For various reasons that the Founders could not have imagined: the size of  the country, the diversity, the technology, the vast sums of money spent in elections today,  the Electoral College failed in its only duty, and, therefore, should be abolished.
                                       
PeteBarkett.blogspot.com
August 7, 2019

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 Bannon Up! This analogy is far from perfect, but it represents to me a futile mindset.   A sacrifice bunt in baseball involves giving up an out to advance a runner into a better position to score a run.   Occasionally, a pitcher tries so hard to throw pitches that are difficult to bunt, that he ends up walking the batter, which moves the lead runner into scoring position, gets no out, and puts another runner on base.   I’ve heard former coaches and players announcing games cry, “He’s trying to make an out.   Let him!”   I believe Steve Bannon wants to go to prison, to make himself a martyr and hero to the right-wing nuts who support him.   I say, let him.   I’ve heard some pundits worry that convicting him would further infuriate the right-wing nuts.   I think it’s time to abandon that type of thinking.   We have seen time after time that making concessions to appease these people is completely unproductive.   They see conces...
Post a Comment
Read more

Musings

  Right-To-Lifers Don’t Go Far Enough       I was pro-choice, but I’ve changed my mind.   The problem is not that the State should govern what a woman does with her body, the problem is that the State has not gone far enough.   The argument is that to protect the life of a fetus, the State must overrule a woman’s privacy and bodily autonomy and regulate her body for her.   Fine.   If we want the State to be in the business of protecting life through bodily regulation, then go all in.   Stick to the prime directive.   Protect all life.   The State should govern both men and women to protect life.   The State should tell any healthy person what to do with their body in order to protect life.   So, if someone needs a kidney, liver, or any organ transplant to save their life, the State should find someone and take whatever parts are needed to save that life.   If not, then we are allowing organ-icide.   (...
Post a Comment
Read more
Inspired by "Is religion a force for good in the world?" - the debates with Christopher Hitchens Let's compare general religious tenets with general humanistic tenets: I assert that to be a good humanist you must follow the rules.   To be a good religious person you must break the rules. Religious:                                             Humanistic: love thy neighbor                                   love thy neighbor do good works                                       do good works live according to the scriptures              live according to what can be drawn from evidence (science) try to follow the dictates of god       ...
Post a Comment
Read more