Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Everything Old Is New Again: The Electoral College Debate





There is a lot of speculation going on about the Electoral College, since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a large margin, yet Cheeto easily amassed plenty of electoral votes—enough to handily quash Mrs. Clinton’s presidential hopes. 

People are coming up with many and varied theories about why the Electoral College was conceived by the founders to begin with.  It’s popular, these days, to connect the College to the insistence of slave-holding states that their wealthy agrarian lifestyle—and potentially unacceptable institutions—maintain an effective amount of sway in federal elections.  The aim here, I suppose, is that if we connect the Electoral College to the great moral sin of slavery in the south, it becomes tarnished by association, and therefore worthy of no better treatment than the institution of slavery itself.

I had written for another hour on this subject today… And then I realized I had already DONE this essay.  Twelve years ago.  In three parts, no less.  Complete with the research I have neither the time nor the patience to indulge in these days.

So…here’s the link:



   
Go read. All three pieces, please.  And comment.  Here or there or on Facebook.  I’d like to have a conversation about this…

Did I ask for a conversation?  What in the world made me do that?  Most people who came here from Facebook didn't even glance at the original essays.  Oh, well.  Their loss--they ARE good pieces of writing.  Guess I just can't let go of the past...  :(

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