“In politics stupidity is not a handicap.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
It has become popular of late for pontificating politicians (and others) to decry and condemn our uniquely American Electoral College system. Every four years, as the presidential election approaches, citizens are assaulted with continuing arguments from low IQ political pundits who insist that the Electoral College is outdated. They argue that we need to opt for a strictly popular vote when we elect our next president. I would argue that this is at the least misguided, at worst evidence of a parasitic mind. Why does the Electoral College matter? Let me explain…
Rather than holding one national presidential election every four years, in essence, we have 50 individual state elections (plus one extra for the District of Columbia). Each state holds its own election for president. As a group, the people in Texas get to decide on who they want for president. It is the same for the folks in Kansas and Oklahoma and California and Vermont. States differ. We have a diverse population. The priorities and concerns of those in the urban Northeast or coastal California may be different than those in the Midwest or the deep South. Without the Electoral College, states with smaller populations like Wyoming, Vermont, and Alaska would have no voice when we elect our president. Larger states like Texas, New York, and California could control elections. The Electoral College was instituted so that every state, and every voter in every state, matters. That is the simple answer.
Our Founding Fathers intentionally designed the American government to prevent a tyrannical minority from controlling the majority. We have three branches of government with baked in checks and balances. There is division of power between the federal and state governments, constitutional limits on the government’s power, and a differing composition of representatives in Congress. And we have the ingenious Electoral College.
Many bow-tie wearing comb-over politicians in both parties
