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It’s Time to ABOLISH the Electoral College!
by Patricia
Elizabeth Nosie, History Editor
You want to read
something really scary?! Even if all of the 285,230,516* residents
of the United States voted (*which number has grown since this 2000 Census
calculation), ONLY 538 votes would matter -- AND
only 270 of those votes are actually needed to elect the President! Shocking!
Revolting! Disturbing! TOTALLY un-Democratic! No wonder so many Americans feel
out of touch with the government -- it’s based on the wishes of a few people
(the “Them-ocratic” way), rather than the Democratic will of the majority!! This
hideousness stems from the “electoral college,” a process established by the
founding fathers as a compromise between election of the president by Congress
and election by popular vote. “Compromise” means all involved give in
order to find a satisfactory solution. A 285,230,516 popular vote to 270
electoral voters ratio is not a compromise -- it’s downright madness!
(Map to the right shows number of delegates per state!) 
There was probably a closer ratio back in the beginning of this Nation’s
government, but why at this hour in the month of April “in the Year of Our Lord
2008” (as the year was read centuries ago) does the electoral college still
exist?? WAIT... don’t answer that! JUST ABOLISH THIS SILLY
VOTING SYSTEM!
As things stand now, we are all chained to the Federalist Papers written in
1788.
The Federalist
Papers are a series of 85 articles advocating theratification of the United States
Constitution. The articles were written by Alexander Hamilton James Madison, and
John Jay. They appeared under the pseudonym (for anonymity) Publius in honor of
Roman consul Publius Valerius Publicola(“Friend of the People”).Seventy-seven of the
essays were published serially in The Independent Journal
who described “the need” for a few selected electors to be the deciding factor
so as to ensure that undesirable types aren’t voted in -- which doesn’t work because we’ve had to endure some
very shady activity from many oval office leaders!
Some of Publius’ exact words are: “[This] process
of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will ... require other talents, and a different
kkind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union,
or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States. It will not be too strong to say, that there will be a constant probability of seeing the station filled by characters preeminent for ability and virtue.” (excuse me, I’ll be right back… … …I, um, had to throw-up and clean-up the mess before I was well enough to continue this subject!) Publius continues: “And this will be thought no inconsiderable recommendation of the Constitution, by those who are able to estimate the share which the executive in every government must necessarily have in its good or ill administration. Though we cannot acquiesce in the political heresy of the poet who says: ‘For forms of government let fools contest That which is best administered is best,’ yet we may safely pronounce, that the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency to produce a good administration.” -- (Gag! Ugh! I’ll be right back…!)
We MUST Abolish the electoral college!
Okay, breathe in…breathe out…whew!
My need to research what is really involved in the presidential election process stems from recently asking a very involved politically-minded person about the electoral college and how much my vote counts, to which this person responded “to be honest, I don’t know”…. I decided then and there to find out what exactly this Nation’s presidential election is all about.
What I
discovered reminds me of the “Chutes & Ladders” game
board which shows a scramble of activity with crazy twists and turns much like the following: …caucuses…primaries…General Elections (only held to “chuse”* how many electors a state gets to have [*an actual word from this country’s archaic constitution!])…Article II Section I of the U.S. Constitution… Amendment 12 (from same)... GOP... national conventions... national convention reform commission... party nominations... large states vs. small states... electoral votes (only actually counted in January following the General Election! – and again,
how
are these few electoral college voters selected?)… campaign funding… delegates… super
delegates… Super Tuesdays… unfair media coverage… balance the ticket…??!!
A lot of blood was shed during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement to gain the right to vote for
all people and we must not forget their suffering…it’s time
the majority takes hold of running what should be our government …a
government that once allowed the enslavement of Black people for many
generations and destroyed as many Native American tribes as possible,
along with keeping the survivors from becoming citizens of their own
land until 1924! That kind of government has issues that have never been purged
and resolved…that same mentality is still within the White House walls! IN
2008, THE MAJORITY’S CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT MUST TAKE OFFICE! We can no longer
pretend we cannot feel the pain of centuries of neglect…we are not invisible…our
voices and votes must count, but first we must see that
the electoral college -- our biggest stumbling block to Democracy -- is
Abolished! Right now in America, the “majority” is like the scientist in
that cartoon where he’s peering into a microscope with his hands up, doing
exactly what the amoeba on the Petri dish is telling him to do!!
Majority, let’s clean up the White House and get our choice of President in there…someone who
will care about the quality of our daily lives! I recommend emailing this
article to all of your states’ representatives and local newspapers to get the
word out that THE WILL OF THE MAJORITY IS TO ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND
HAVE A NATIONAL VOTE FOR THE 2008 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WHERE THE
CANDIDATE WITH THE MOST VOTES WINS -- PURE AND SIMPLE!
Say Freedom!
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Patty Nosie - History Editor
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