Just a reminder... both GWB and DJT lost the popular vote.

[garybeck]

Perhaps this means...

1) Maybe our country is not as fucked up as we think

2) Maybe a top priority should be to change the electoral college system before we leave this place an empty stone.

You know that saying... three strikes and you're out.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. It's already been more than three strikes.

John Quincy Adams lost the popular vote in 1824, Rutherford Hayes lost it in 1876, and likewise Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

[OliverQ]

2. You're going to need one heck of a massive Democratic wave in Congress

and every state to ever have a shot at repealing the electoral college. I just don't ever see it happening.

[lapfog_1]

3. I don't think the founding fathers

ever envisioned a union of states where

a) people and commerce were as mobile as they are today

(meaning the federal government is much more important today than in the late 1700s).

and

b) There would be such a disparity in the states like California and Wyoming (both in population and economic importance).


Time to rethink the electoral college AND the representation in the Senate (and even the House).

[unblock]

5. on the contrary, the founding states were radically different -- slave states vs. free states.

and in fact, the bicameral system, with the senate having equal representation by state, not population; the electoral college system; and the notorious 3/5ths clause were all part of preserving the balance between the very different free states vs. slave states. even the amendment process was made difficult in part due to this.

they knew what they were doing, they were just solving for very different problems with rather different challenges than we are worried about today.

unfortunately, we remain saddled with some of these decisions despite the fact that slavery is no longer legal.

[ck4829]

4. Maybe we should think outside sham election processes