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Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

dvorak.substack.com

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Re: Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

#11

Post by darth_avocado »

projectileboy wrote: post #3

I get where this comes from, but it’s very obviously wrong. It acts like media is the only group with money and influence. Many, many, many interests depend on the voting power that the Electoral College supplies to resource-rich states out west. I’d bet my left arm that the Electoral College will not disappear in my lifetime.

^this. Yes while it may be true that media will benefit from this, it almost virtually guarantees no more Republican presidents. Given that the House is also trending in that direction, the only real place where power still remains with the Republicans is the Senate. Too many mega corporations benefit from keeping the Dems out, (taxes, employee rights, minimum wage, etc.) and they will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo.

Re: Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

#15

Post by IncRnd »

I think that people aren't addressing the root cause. The existence of a two-party system is intended to keep parties in power. Yes, there are other parties, such as Constitution or Libertatian, but until things change they are inconsequential.

People should elect candidates, not parties. If we do not stop electing parties, we will continue to elect gatekeepers and politicians who spend all their time creating and then pretending they can't solve wedge issues, while spending money frivolously to bribe people and pay-off the corporations who later hire them.

These politicians, who all seem to hate each other, are friends with each other, and they play citizens for fools. Why don't we all take a step back and stop playing _their_ game? The problem isn't the electoral college, it's the people who we let matriculate and the party system.

Re: Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

#16

Post by gameswithgo »

jacinabox wrote: post #4

NPVIC is state level-electoral meddling exactly on a par with what 45 tried in Michigan and Georgia, and aiming for the same outcome. The democrats pushing for it are not trying to correct some abstract statistical imbalance or make it easier for third party candidates to get seats: they are trying to swing elections in those states democratic, pure and simple.

Any change to any voting system is likely going to benefit one party more than others, and said party will always be motivated for that reason. This is a given. This should not then imply that we never change how voting works. When republicans want to do the right thing for bad reasons, and when democrats want to do the right thing for bad reasons, roll with it.

Re: Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

#17

Post by pmoriarty »

darth_avocado wrote: post #11
projectileboy wrote: post #3

I get where this comes from, but it’s very obviously wrong. It acts like media is the only group with money and influence. Many, many, many interests depend on the voting power that the Electoral College supplies to resource-rich states out west. I’d bet my left arm that the Electoral College will not disappear in my lifetime.

^this. Yes while it may be true that media will benefit from this, it almost virtually guarantees no more Republican presidents. Given that the House is also trending in that direction, the only real place where power still remains with the Republicans is the Senate. Too many mega corporations benefit from keeping the Dems out, (taxes, employee rights, minimum wage, etc.) and they will fight tooth and nail to maintai…

"the only real place where power still remains with the Republicans is the Senate"

And the Supreme Court, and many lower courts, which have been packed with Republicans.

Not to mention the military and the police, and probably the intelligence agencies too.

Re: Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

#18

Post by war1025 »

r00fus wrote: post #9

While I'd like to agree with him here, if John C Dvorak says it's true, you can bet against it nearly 100% successfully. Look at some of these doozies... [1] [1] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak

It's amazing how many "media personalities" are basically always wrong on the subject they "specialize" in, and yet they get invited back again and again.

I guess that's the whole Gell-Mann Amnesia thing.

Re: Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

#19

Post by lern_too_spel »

It won't happen until foreign actors deliberately exploit the electoral college by taking actions that harm the GOP specifically in swing states. As long as the electoral college gives an edge to the GOP, none of the reliably red states will want to abolish it, and together with the swing states benefiting directly from the electoral college, there aren't enough votes to get rid of it.

Re: Why the Electoral College Will Be Banished

#20

Post by dragonwriter »

darth_avocado wrote: post #11
projectileboy wrote: post #3

I get where this comes from, but it’s very obviously wrong. It acts like media is the only group with money and influence. Many, many, many interests depend on the voting power that the Electoral College supplies to resource-rich states out west. I’d bet my left arm that the Electoral College will not disappear in my lifetime.

^this. Yes while it may be true that media will benefit from this, it almost virtually guarantees no more Republican presidents. Given that the House is also trending in that direction, the only real place where power still remains with the Republicans is the Senate. Too many mega corporations benefit from keeping the Dems out, (taxes, employee rights, minimum wage, etc.) and they will fight tooth and nail to maintai…

> it almost virtually guarantees no more Republican presidents.

No, it doesn’t, unless the Republican Party doesn’t adapt to changing conditions as it has continuously since it’s founding. It probably guarantees the Republican Party will realign slightly around some peripheral issues to shift it's geographic focus slightly while retaining it's core economic message, and continue on without breaking stride.

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