The foolishness of Our Founding Fathers is proven by, of all people, Lady GaGa.
Building the hype for the diva's upcoming appearance on the Today Show, Meredith Veiera informed us this morning that Lady Gaga is now #1 in Facebook "friends" having passed the former #1, some guy named Barack Obama. The American public would rather keep up with the comings and goings of a 24 year old "music and fashion icon" rather than the guy with the power to invade a country on the other side of the world based on a false pretext (not that that would ever happen).
The framers of the Constitution saw this coming. Rather than entrust the choice of the President to direct election by the people (I'm not sure what the equivalent of Lady Gaga fans was back in 1787, but they'd probably have picked some fife player in an exotic outfit over George Washington), they established the Electoral College, a sane and sober crew who'd choose the best landholding, wealthy white guy they could find for the highest office in the land.
Frankly, the Electoral College is not democratic. Modern technology allows us to choose our American Idol by popular vote. We should be able to follow Ryan Seacrest's instructions and text our choice for American President the same way! In fact, we should have Presidential Tryouts open to the public at sites across this great land of ours with hilarious videotaped outtakes. The Finalists could then give speeches and show their snappiest salute upon exiting Air Force One before Simon and the rest of the panel. They could be "mentored" by former Presidents. Imagine the tension as the Finalists are whittled down to the Final 3.
The "American Idol" process gave us Carrie Underwood. The Electoral College gave us Warren G. Harding. Which is better?
Of course, if the "American Idol" process were in place today, Lady GaGa would be President.
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
ReplyDeleteEvery vote, everywhere, would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections. Candidates would need to care about voters across the nation, not just undecided voters in a handful of swing states.
The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes--that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
The bill uses the power given to each state by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution to change how they award their electoral votes for president.
In Gallup polls since 1944, only about 20% of the public has supported the current system of awarding all of a state's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in each separate state (with about 70% opposed and about 10% undecided). The recent Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University poll shows 72% support for direct nationwide election of the President. Support for a national popular vote is strong in virtually every state, partisan, and demographic group surveyed in recent polls in closely divided battleground states: Colorado-- 68%, Iowa --75%, Michigan-- 73%, Missouri-- 70%, New Hampshire-- 69%, Nevada-- 72%, New Mexico-- 76%, North Carolina-- 74%, Ohio-- 70%, Pennsylvania -- 78%, Virginia -- 74%, and Wisconsin -- 71%; in smaller states (3 to 5 electoral votes): Alaska -- 70%, DC -- 76%, Delaware --75%, Maine -- 77%, Nebraska -- 74%, New Hampshire --69%, Nevada -- 72%, New Mexico -- 76%, Rhode Island -- 74%, and Vermont -- 75%; in Southern and border states: Arkansas --80%, Kentucky -- 80%, Mississippi --77%, Missouri -- 70%, North Carolina -- 74%, and Virginia -- 74%; and in other states polled: California -- 70%, Connecticut -- 74% , Massachusetts -- 73%, Minnesota -- 75%, New York -- 79%, Washington -- 77%, and West Virginia- 81%.
The National Popular Vote bill has passed 30 state legislative chambers, in 20 small, medium-small, medium, and large states, including one house in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon, and both houses in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The bill has been enacted by Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington. These five states possess 61 electoral votes -- 23% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
See http://www.NationalPopularVote.com