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Politics : Electoral College 2000 - Ahead of the Curve -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (6551)	12/24/2000 11:51:17 AM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6710

It seems to me that the issue of the Electoral College can be put in perspective by considering another institution which does not have proportional representation, the Senate. Each state has two Senators, no more, no less, no matter how large or how small. The argument against the Electoral College, that it thwarts the popular vote, can just as easily be made against the Senate - it, too, thwarts the popular vote. Is this bad? I don't think it's bad, either. The Senate is the real protector of the interests of the small states. Without disproportionate representation for small population states in the Senate, it is likely the small states would get the short end of the stick - which would lead to resentment, disunion, and separatism. As it is now, the small population states are basically subsidized - receiving more, usually much more, in federal spending than their residents pay in federal taxes. A reasonable price to pay for national unity, I think. On the issue of state sovereignty and federalism: I can't tell exactly what about our federal system you are concerned about - and what comfort state sovereignty gives you. I think that given the Supreme Court justices expressed concern about equal protection, perhaps some federal standards on voting methods and counting methods are in order. Seems to me the states aren't doing such a wonderful job - we don't have equal, uniform, objective voting and vote counting methods and standards between or even within the states now, as the recent episode in Florida illustrates. Of course, I don't see what any of this actually has to do with the electoral college system anyway.