[thechat] protests?
deacon b.
web at master.gen.in.us
Tue Mar 25 22:36:34 CST 2003
> Unfortunately, in the USA the majority does not elect the government.
Fortunately, in the USA, the constitution is supposed
to rule. Unfortunately, we've never given it a fair
chance.
> If it was simply a case of majority rule, Al Gore would be president.
Not necessarily. If it were majority rule, there would
have been a different turnout of voters. As it was, if
your state was going 60/40 for one candidate or the
other, you were less inclined to vote.
The numbers are still readily available online. If you
take each state's population and multiply it by the
percentage of vote each slate of electors got, the
majority of the vote would go to Bush.
The electoral college serves a very valid purpose - it
makes it a lot more *certain* who lives at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue. Better the guy who's second-
best than nobody at all!
For instance, there were widespread election
problems in Pennsylvania. Nobody bothered to do
anything about them, though, because if all the
problems were decided in favor of Bush, it would still
be a Gore state. Would you like to see *every* vote
in *every* precinct in *every* state examined when
we have a close election, or would you rather the
post-election shenanigans be confined to one swing
state like Florida?
If it were not for the electoral college, we'd still be in
the courts, trying to decide whether Nixon or
Kennedy won in 1960.
I voted for Bush. It was a close call, but Republicans
are against running a deficit, are against expanding
the government, and there's never been a war
started in a Republican administration. Who was I to
know that Bush really was a Democrat?
deke
--
RIP Adam Osborne, 1939-2003
And 23 pounds of thanks!
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