The Electoral College

"The Electoral College"

What were our Founding Fathers thinking in 1787? Did they not realize that the Electoral College system effectively took the power to select the American president of out of the hands of the American people? Though the condescending nature of it may sting a little, I think they knew exactly what they were doing. In fact, the Founding Fathers always intended that the states and not the people select the president. Honestly, our Founding Fathers didn't give the American public much credit for political awareness. Possibly, rightly so for some...They said that (paraphrasing here) the danger of placing the ultimate power into the American publics set of naive human hands could lead to a "tyranny of the majority" Thus being so, they created the great "Electoral College System" to insulate the selection of the president from the whims of the public. However, I feel that just because the system has "worked" for over two hundred years doesn't mean that it shouldn't be changed. I feel that the system is flawed and if it were up to me I would change it or at the very least repeal it. I think the Electoral college makes people feel like their individual vote is unimportant. After all...shouldn't the focus be on who everyone wants as the president and not who wins the "right" states. Just a minute you say... isn't the system set up so that the who becomes president is who the people want? Hmm... that sounds right but sadly it doesn't always seem to be true. A few times the electoral college has actually put a president into office who has not won the popular vote! Two times come to my mind...on was in 1876- Rutherford B. Hayes and the other was with Benjamin Harrison in 1888. Both of their opponents had won the popular vote and yet because they won the electoral vote they were elected as president.To me the question is not if the electoral college is flawed but rather what it would take to change it. To be ratified and become effective, a constitutional amendment must be approved by the legislatures of 39 out of the 50 states. By design, the Electoral College system grants the states the power to elect the president of the United States. How likely is it that 39 states are going to vote to give up that power? Moreover, 12 states control 53 percent of the votes in the Electoral College, leaving only 38 states that might even