Great concept except when I vote for a president, my vote doesn't count as my state will send electoral votes based upon the mix of Senate and House representative my state has. I can vote, the majority of my fellow citizens can vote and we can elect a President by a majority of our combined votes. However, as happened in the Bush/Gore election, the Electoral College can then elect whoever they want, which may not be what the majority of the people want.
In my home state of NY, we don’t hear much about what the Republican Candidate stands for, as it is a forgone conclusion NY will go Democrat in the Electoral Vote. Therefore, we are ignored by the Republican candidate.
The Declaration states “We the People” not “We the Electoral College”. Doesn’t seem right. Just Say'n
Posts
Yeah, I don't know about the one-man-one-vote thing. It's a nice idea, intuitively. Gives the impression that there's one little pixel set aside just for you, on the big screen, and that your individuality is acknowledged when you make your binary choice of color. But really you're just subsumed into a statistic, and you don't have a very clear idea what your vote means. You vote for a character who comes across as congenial, or tough, or smart, or whatever, but you don't really know who he is. You're guessing. Maybe you're right. Maybe not. And there are party platforms - big, vague mission statements that you might agree with in one part, and disagree with in another, and which may not have all that much to do with the available possible actions open to the politician you voted for, should he be elected. And of course, if the guy you vote for loses, your vote is just trashed - you're lumped together just like in an electoral college vote, but the quantum you're lumped in with is "the losers".
ReplyDeleteThe function of a democracy is really just to provide a means for the peaceful transition of power from one temporary holder of it to the next. It stops any set of interests from becoming institutionally entrenched and allows anyone who has screwed up to be replaced. Parties broadly adopt consensus perspectives while attempting to mediate between competing interests, only one of which is "the people". Imagining that government can be fine-tuned to somehow reflect something meaningful about you if you get your vote to count at a mass win/lose level is ... well, it's a bit naive really.
Well, that was an extremely uneducated response. (Must have voted for Obama. Also, must carry a dictionary around to attempt to impress.). Sad. So very sad. On a brighter note: "Just Say'n" is one of the BEST, most earnest blogs on the Internet. It is written to make us think, for us to enjoy, perhaps to entertain us, and to make us...Feel. How dare you attempt to use it as your soapbox. Lighten up there, Tiger.
ReplyDeleteAh the joy’s of political debates. Thank God we are in a country where we can disagree and still be safe.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I still don’t like the electoral college. Just Say'n