12-21-2016, 12:19 AM
(12-20-2016, 03:00 PM)David Horn Wrote: Think about this for a second. If prevention of unsuitable candidates is no longer under consideration, and I believe it is not, then what purpose does the institution serve? I guess you can argue that it promotes geo-diversity, but so what? Is that a better option than minority rule?
I don't see the EC being added to the trash heap any time soon, but a serious discussion of its fate is long overdue. If nothing else, the bias created by adding the number of Senators to the number of Representatives to get each state allocation is unsupportable. Kill that, at least.
Originally, the United States were perceived of as a union of states. There are many mechanisms in the Constitution intended to preserve the power of the states. That perspective seems dated. I see us more as a union of People rather than a union of states. From that perspective, I'd kind of like to see us going to direct vote.
The founding fathers also trusted the well educated elite above the populist urges of the People. There are mechanisms in the Constitution that place elected officials in power rather than the People. I see the Electoral College as such a mechanism. Again, I distrust the founding father's wisdom. I'd as soon see direct vote.
While I'd as soon cast aside the EC, the founding fathers had reasons for what they did.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.