I'm sure its been asked before, but why do we need it, in this age of information. When voters are keeping up with issues now more than ever, why not one man one vote?
2007-01-29 15:31:03 · 6 answers · asked by Baby 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.
~Marcus Aurelius
Think about it. We have 200 channels of TV and all wind up watching American Idol and "Who Wants to Marry a Millionare?" We have all the accumulated information in Human History on the internet, and most people just use it to gossip, bet on sports, download music, and watch porn.
The founders knew their history. They knew that Athens was a strong nation that voted for popular idiots who offered people something for nothing and thusy destroyed itself. They knew that Rome did something similar when the Republic fell and became the Empire. They knew that it would happen again (and it did..Hitler was ELECTED Chancelor of Germany, all nice and legal.) They knew that when liberty dies it is normally at the hand of someone liberty elected.
The electoral college is there as a last ditch to save the American Republic from the stupidity of the Average American.
2007-01-29 15:54:57 · answer #1 · answered by Larry R 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Rick N, JFra, and LarryR all have good answers. We have the electoral college simply because our federal government is nothing more than a union of fifty states. We need to choose a leader that best represents the states, not the people. This prevents two or three states, like Texas, California, and New York from taking all the attention of candidates because states like Minnesota, Iowa, Nevada, and even Florida become important to the process. The voice of the people is supposed to be Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, not the Presidency.
2007-01-30 00:22:10 · answer #2 · answered by msi_cord 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To stop a regional presidency, what is good for NY might not be good for the nation. If it was by popular vote then the people in rural areas and states woul be screwed because the parties would not care about them. The president is to represent the country, not certain areas, our fore fathers knew this, the electoral college was not a mistake and was placed in on perpose. They always wanted to make sure that there was no real way to consolidate power.
2007-01-29 23:40:35 · answer #3 · answered by JFra472449 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
If you think about it, the two parties have every incentive to leave the electoral college in place and unmodified. Why? In almost every state, the "winner take all"rule in effect precludes the emergence o f a third party at the national level.
2007-01-29 23:41:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it were eliminated, voters in places like Wyoming and Alaska would never see a candidate. Further, our system of government is set up on the basis of federalism. This is one of the areas in which states play a significant role. I don't want the common bumpkin directly electing the leader of the Free World. My God, look at them! They don't have enough sense to come in out of the rain. Before anyone "accuses" me in a pejorative manner of being elitist, let me state proudly that I am. As I said: look around. Do YOU want your neighbors having that sort of power??
2007-01-29 23:44:52 · answer #5 · answered by Rick N 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, thank you. Only Democrats want it. Leave the electoral college alone.
2007-01-29 23:40:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋