Petition to abolish the Electoral College

[Silver]

Sign it here

[The Grand Nudger]

Peoples sudden distaste for the electoral college is informed by a specific misuse of the electoral college. If we burnt down everything that bad actors gamed we'd be standing on a pile of ash by now.

[Silver]

I'd certainly like to know who these bad actors are, thank you.

[The Grand Nudger]

The GOP hasn't been viable for about as long as I've been alive. The last GOP candidate to win the pop vote on his own was GW The Elder. If he ran today he'd win it again.

That said, it doesn't diminish the case for the electoral college. It shows how a party in decline can abuse it.

[Silver]

You're not precisely making a positive case for the EC to remain.

[The Grand Nudger]

Again, if we burnt down everything that bad actors could abuse, we'd be standing on a pile of ash.

At the time of the Philadelphia convention, no other country in the world directly elected its chief executive, so the delegates were wading into uncharted territory. Further complicating the task was a deep-rooted distrust of executive power. After all, the fledgling nation had just fought its way out from under a tyrannical king and overreaching colonial governors. They didn’t want another despot on their hands.

One group of delegates felt strongly that Congress shouldn’t have anything to do with picking the president. Too much opportunity for chummy corruption between the executive and legislative branches.

Another camp was dead set against letting the people elect the president by a straight popular vote. First, they thought 18th-century voters lacked the resources to be fully informed about the candidates, especially in rural outposts. Second, they feared a headstrong “democratic mob” steering the country astray. And third, a populist president appealing directly to the people could command dangerous amounts of power.

https://www.history.com/news/electoral-c...convention

..now, the link continues, to describe the relationship between slave electors and the new system of selection - but we no longer believe that. Do we still believe, though, that we shouldn't be ruled by a despot? That we shouldn't be ruled by congress, that we shouldn't be ruled by the whims of the mob? That we shouldn't be ruled by one or the other side, exclusively, of a camp with opinions about matters of human interest (good or bad)? What, if you could imagine it, would be a compromise between all interested parties? A way of selecting the president which addresses, though not necessarily agrees, with all the concerns of every faction of the electorate?

To put an even finer point on it, if the gop succeeds in it's voter suppression tactics, are you comfortable with a president elected directly by "The People"? The electoral college is one way to address the inherent weakness of democracy, and it does possess inherent weakness.

[Fake Messiah]

And also you have the supreme court which can also decide the elections.

[Silver]

 What, if you could imagine it, would be a compromise between all interested parties?

Fuck the compromise. Tear down the two party system, destroying the Republican tomfoolery, and ensure a true Democracy. Guaranteed, given time, those ignorant rednecks will come around to realizing that the Republicans never did anything for them.

[Angrboda]

The electoral college isn't functional toward any good end anymore, if it ever was. The founders had good intentions, but not everything they built should be preserved.

[The Grand Nudger]

A True Democracy™ can be positively evil. Let go of the idea that everyone will eventually come around to The Right Idea. They won't.