This is, in reality, the only way to move forward. The Electoral College diminishes the value of every person's vote, regardless of where you are in the country. Campaigns would be MUCH different if you didn't have to cater to a few whackjobs in podunk nowhere. A candidate needs to simply put forth a plan, a program, a clear vision, that the majority of voters want. Pandering for electoral votes, instead of dealing with the things the ACTUAL POPULACE wants, is what has led us to minority rule now three times in recent history. Time to dump this relic of imperialism and let every vote count, and every voter track their vote from start to finish, like I did with mine and a little QR code. Fuck the EC. It's why we have ossified into a two-party system. No EC and ranked-choice voting is the only way to restore any semblance of democracy in our country.
Update: Sorry, I misinterpreted you! Ignore the previous message. Yeah, that would've been weird, I can't see the GOP ever advocating for abolishing the EC.
No worries, yeah I don't either, but in my eyes trump supporters aren't typical GOP and I could see the "burn it down" sentiment pointed at the electoral college. There is a difference between political operatives and regular supporters, and its really only the operatives that want to preserve the electoral college. Most democrats and independents are for abolishing it, and about a quarter of republications https://news.gallup.com/poll/320744/americans-support-abolishing-electoral-college.aspx. There are small steps to take like getting rid of the winner take all system, which could be easier than abolishing the whole thing and provide the same benefit.
Someone community-tagged this "no", lol. They are correct. One of the only things about the electoral college that I like is that the existence of swing states kinda forces presidential candidates into catering more to everyone along the political spectrum. At this moment in time, if America changed to popular vote, I'm not sure that democrat presidential nominees would even pretend to care about rural voters (hell, they wouldn't have to campaign at all, with the current disparity in the popular vote). I don't think that's a good thing. Still, I agree that this discussion is hella healthy. I'll seize any and all opportunities to point out how increasingly un-representative the GOP is.
Disagree. A popular vote based election means that there's every reason for a Democrat to campaign in Tulsa and a Republican in Orange County, because each vote suddenly matters, and if course there are pockets of every political stripe in every state. My guess is that the EC artificially suppresses turnout because most people in the country reasonably believe that their vote doesn't matter. I think in the long run abolishing three EC would actually be good for the GOP, even though it really would fuck them for a couple election cycles, since they could be free to not pander to the South any longer.
Agreed, except for the "good for the GOP" thing. What will happen is that, when every vote counts, there will be greater power to each vote and voters won't be happy just voting for one person. They will want Ranked Choice voting, which will ultimately help bring nuance and collaboration back, because people won't be party die-hards any more. They will be able to form coalitions with people with good ideas, no matter where the sit on the political spectrum. Which will, in the end, be bad for both the DNC and the GOP, because both are the lunatic fringe, and don't reflect the majority of ANYONE's opinion.