by Sandy » Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:09 am
The idea that the votes of some Americans don't count as much as others, because of where they live geographically is not only ignorant, but it is dangerous to the stability of the Republic. Americans are Americans, and the idea that some states shouldn't "dominate" an election because of their size should be laid to rest along with the antiquated idea that allowed it to be inserted into the constitution in the first place. The electoral college is a holdover from the days of the Articles of Confederation, and idea that failed miserably when it elevated the individual rights of states, acting as sovereign countries, over any kind of central government system. It was a compromise to smaller states who didn't understand that a unified republic was a benefit, not a threat, not anywhere near as much as an invasion and dominance by France, Spain or England would have been had they remained as they were under the Articles of Confederation.
The conditions and political ideas that the Electoral College was put in place to protect no longer exist. As the nation has grown, and expanded, the Electoral College skews the value of individual votes, even among smaller states. The ratio of actual votes to an electoral vote in Wyoming is half of what it is in either Rhode Island or the District of Columbia, though all three of them have three electoral votes. The ratio of voters to electoral votes in California is higher than any other state. The idea that some states matter more than others is contrary to the very core of American values, the principle of one person, one vote.
Oh, and about that Trump electoral vote victory. The three states that put him over the top, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, are states he won by a combined total of fewer than 40,000 votes, as of today, and that margin continues to shrink as provisional ballots are counted. Throw in Florida, and it barely tops the 50,000 mark. She won three swing states, and his margin in the other two isn't anywhere near a million combined.