• Senate Democrats to introduce constitutional amendment to abolish E.C.
    8 replies, posted
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/senate-dems-introduce-constitutional-amendment-abolish-electoral-college-n989656 Leading Democratic senators are expected to introduce a constitutional amendment Tuesday to abolish the Electoral College, adding momentum to a long-shot idea that has been gaining steam among 2020 presidential candidates. A bonus article: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/abolish-electoral-college-filibuster-both-2020-hopefuls-pitch-major-structural-n989821  Top Democratic presidential candidates on Monday called for abolishing the Electoral College, allowing felons to vote and requiring Cabinet secretaries to hold monthly town hall meetings. Due of upper article mentions that Kirsten Gillibrand's co-sporing a new constitutional amendment of Abolishing the EC... but not as official part of the Platform for her presidential campaign, it now becoming possibly the fifth candidate on supporting Abolishing it. 5 (Yes on abolishing it; Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Beto O'Rourke, and recently but maybe Kirsten Gillibrand) 1 (Kinda yes but as reforming it; Tulsi Gabbard) 2 (No on keeping it; Andrew Yang and John Delaney)
Andrew Yang supports the electoral college? That's surprising?
People seem to forget that the Constitution was meant to be a living document. It's meant to be amended and modified to fit the contemporary age. Many other countries regularly modify their constitution. The US has the oldest living constitution of any county, but people have gotten to treating it like the bible: the infallible words of God the founding fathers. What might have worked in 1776 might not work in 2019. The electoral college is one. The 2016 proved the ineffectiveness of a system designed to keep out populists. The founding fathers didn't expect the level of partisanship we've reached today; party over country. The electoral college needs to go.
Actually still no as of this report from Independent.uk. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election/what-is-electoral-college-pros-cons-us-election-explained-a8850166.html At least three candidates say they would like to maintain it: John Hickenlooper, John Delaney, and Andrew Yang.
The EC had a time and place but I lost confidence in it when it didn't prevent Trump, in fact it elected him. In theory it could vote to prevent a populist, it didn't. Without it rural America will be largely abandoned as future elections will be Rural vs Urban and we'll always be outnumbered, but that's no so different from how it is now anyway. Instead of representation, we just get Republicans who couldn't give a shit about us and Democrats who forget we even exist.
the US constitution is also oddly short and vague compared to just about every other constitution or founding document out there, which should be mentioned because people also complain about the constitution becoming too long and unweildy
https://www.abqjournal.com/1299350/expungement-electoral-college-bills-signed-by-governor.html New Mexico's governor has signed the latest National Popular law so far, with adding 5+ EV of the overall 189 EV to getting 270 EV!
Oh it's definitely been abused since day 1 but it's practical foundation made sense I think is what they were trying to say
The electoral college absolutely made sense back in the 18th century; there was no other practical way to elect a single person as a head of state back then, even for a nation the size of the 13 original states. The logistics just didn’t exist until at least 100 years after the founding. But the electoral college also represents very ‘monarchical’ thinking of the time. If they were forward thinking, they would have realised that a head of government could be drawn from the legislature while still allowing for checks & balances. They would have also realised that a head of state could exist, without its officeholder having anything more than a ceremonial role and reserve powers. Both of these are true for most western democracies today. It’s ironic that the US was founded in a time when most European nations were still ruled by monarchs, but today, you won’t find any other western nation which has so much power vested in a single person, especially a single person who isn’t even directly elected. It isn’t the electoral college that’s outdated - it’s the entire office of President (in the American context) that is outdated.
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