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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (8246)	12/2/2000 9:59:36 PM
From: Roger A. Babb	Respond to of 10042

Baird, I think that a majority of Americans agree with your post. The unfortunate result is that Mrs. Clinton will carry that banner and will almost certainly be the next President after a 4 year Bush disaster. Yes, everyone will vote next time. But the problem for the Republicans is that most of the non-voters who will be coming to the table are NOT Republicans, a high turnout goes the other way.

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (8246)	12/2/2000 11:29:27 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 10042

The Electoral College was designed to give small states disproportionate weight in selecting a president, and it is functioning as designed. To change it, you must amend the Constitution, which requires ratification by three-quarters of the states. Lots of luck...

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (8246)	12/2/2000 11:52:30 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 10042

Eliminating the electoral college and adopting direct popular election would reduce the exaggerated and disproportionate importance given to Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas, and other small states. I suppose you'll want to do away with the Senate next? Personally, I think the Electoral College should be revised to where each state receives 10 electoral votes. That way, NO PRESIDENT will be able to win the White House without having to win the majority of ALL states, no matter how lightly, or densely, populated. If a candidate wants to win, he'll have to win more than 1/2 of the states, not just a few select ones that possess the majority of the population. Your kind of thinking is what resulted in the Civil War, Baird... You remember reading about that war, don't ya? The one where the more heavily populated and industrialized North alienated the less populated southern states to the point where they seceded and lead us into Amerca's more bloody war (even bloodier than WWII).. Do we really want to revisit that period of strife? I would hope you'd rethink your premise. The United States is NOT a democracy. It is a Representative Republic. A democracy is more in line with a unicameral political system similar to the UK, Japan, and Israel. And we all know what happens when the going gets tough over there... Someone calls for a new government, or threatens a "no-confidence" vote that seriously impedes the national leadership's ability to handle national crisis. Look at Israel as a prime example.. Is that what you want in this country? Regards, Ron

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (8246)	12/3/2000 10:42:42 AM
From: energy_investor	Respond to of 10042

A solution would be for each State to assign Electoral College votes in proportion to the votes cast in that State. This would require no changes to the Federal Constitution. It would essentially eliminate fights within a State in very close elections since the stakes for the winner/loser would not be ALL of the Electoral votes but only one or two at most. Two States already follow this approach. (Oregan and Maine?) It probably will not be taken up widely elsewhere because it is too transparent and wouldn't allow the political operatives of either party to continue to play games and prostitute our democracy.

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (8246)	12/3/2000 1:01:07 PM
From: Imran	Respond to of 10042

Another problem with doing away with the electoral college is in a close election you would have an unmanageable level of chaos. Gore has "won" the popular vote by about 300,000 votes. California alone has over a million uncounted absentee ballots. Illinois has over a million "undervotes" that no has looked into. My guess is if you go county by county nationwide you find votes that are undercounted, illegally cast, illegally discarded, and all sorts of other irregularities. These votes would easily run into the tens of millions. If you think Florida is a mess imagine doing Florida in EVERY state and county.