When did the Electoral College become a partisan issue?
We all know that Rachel Maddow is liberal and that is her prerogative, fine. What I have an issue with is her show’s blatant partisan painting of what, at its heart, is an issue that needs addressing.
Her show’s blog screams a scary headline at us, “If you can’t win elections, rig them.” Whoa! Rigging elections is serious business and a serious charge.
If Republicans are rigging elections, give me a pitchfork and torch! I will gladly join in the prosecution, except that isn’t the case at all.
Republicans in five states: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio, are trying to change electoral vote allocation from winner takes all to proportional. That means if there are ten electoral votes to be had and the Democratic candidate got 50% of the vote, the Republican candidate received 40% of the vote, and an independent was favored by 10% of the voters, the Democrat would get five electoral votes, the Republican four electoral votes, and the independent one. In those states today, the Democrat would get all ten electoral votes.
Keep in mind that two states have had a long-standing proportional allocation of electoral votes, Nebraska and Maine. Is she blaming Republicans for those states’ long standing method?
Plus we should abolish the Electoral College anyway and have a popular vote. The reasons for the Electoral College no longer apply since we don’t ride horses from New York to Connecticut anymore. The founding fathers were concerned about candidates spending all their time in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia and wanted to encourage campaigning in the smaller states too.
According to the National Archives: “The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The founding fathers established it in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.”
I am tired of presidential candidates spending all of their time in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio because of their perceived importance for Electoral College votes. The biggest states, California, Texas, and New York, are completely ignored since they are sure-wins for candidates.
It is high time for a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College entirely and putting in place a popular vote for president. And Rachel Maddow needs to see the light of how her partisan approach to this issue obfuscates the truth at hand.