What if the Electors Change their Vote on Monday? Could Hillary Reach 270?

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by RAM PhD, Dec 17, 2016.

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  1. jhp

    jhp Member

    The Electoral College is ingenious. Without it, NYC and California would decide the election outcome for the entire federation, each and every time, at least in this century.
     
  2. Life Long Learning

    Life Long Learning Active Member

    What a sad Nation (NYC/Cali owned) that would be.

     
  3. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Imagine that. Giving people equal vote no matter where they live. Inconceivable.
     
  4. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    Right. Let's give everyone on planet Earth that vote. Or, at least, those who make it here illegally.

    It was more than conceivable which is why we don't have it.

    If we'd had direct democracy then the United States would today be very Protestant and very white. If we do have direct democracy then the United States will become very something-or-other to the exclusion of all else.
     
  5. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    And why would NYC and Cali decide the election if there were no Electoral College?
     
  6. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    It would be nice if people would get in the habit of knowing what they're talking about before they start banging on the keyboard. NYC has a population of 8.406 million. Cali has a population of 38.8 million. And the USA has a population of OF 318.9 million. So Cali + NYC has a combined population of 47.206 million, clearly not enough to single-handedly win the election.
     
  7. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Hardly. Cali has a population of 38,800,000 and 55 electoral votes. That's one electoral vote for every 705,454.54 popular votes. Wyo has a population of 584,153 and 3 electoral votes. That's one electoral vote for every 194,717.67 popular votes.
     
  8. Davewill

    Davewill Member

    You really want to believe that don't you. The fact is that twice now the electoral college has handed us a Republican president that could not win the popular vote. The "people" actually pretty strongly supported Clinton. These undemocratic institutions (electoral college, equal numbers of state senators, and too few representatives with gerrymandered districts) will only prop up Republicans for a little while longer.
     
  9. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Everyone on planet Earth who made it here illegally? Hmm.
     
  10. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    You probably missed this newsflash, decimon, but white bread is no longer in the majority. Ethnic minorities are in the majority. Which suggests that a black person could be elected president if it went by the popular vote. Besides, you may have been asleep when this happened but the Electoral College elected a black man twice. His name was Obama. Why couldn't a Catholic be elected president by popular vote? Kennedy was elected by the Electoral College.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 26, 2016
  11. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    So, you don't believe in the Constitution? That doesn't exactly surprise me; would you feel the same way if Hillary had won the Electoral vote, but lost the popular vote?

    The Electoral College was implemented to assuage fears of lesser populated states that they would have a voice in the Presidential election, rather than the populated metropolitan areas, which have little to nothing in common with agrarian states, deciding every time.

    Read Federalist Paper #68, you might learn something.
     
  12. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Ted already corrected the math here, but even if a 50%+1 majority of voters lived in California and New York City, they still wouldn't single-handedly determine the outcome unless every single voter in both places voted for the same candidate. This is a seriously malformed argument.
     
  13. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    I've missed no newsflash but you've missed the point. "If we'd had" means just that.
     
  14. jhp

    jhp Member

    Mr. Heiks, let us forgo the personal deprecation. Not everyone votes.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 27, 2016
  15. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member


    What? Are you implying that whites are no longer the majority?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_United_States
     
  16. Life Long Learning

    Life Long Learning Active Member

    The Electoral College was and is to give "minority" States a vote. Sad after 200 years some folks can't read.

     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 27, 2016
  17. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Populated metropolitan areas squelching the voices of rural areas in the late eighteenth century? America was 90% rural in 1790.
     
  18. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    1. The electoral college prevents the larger populations of the larger states from overwhelming the smaller populations of the smaller states. When the United States was created, the founding fathers created the electoral college for this purpose (among other purposes). It equalizes power among the states (think back to the original thirteen colonies).

    2. Subsequent to the above, the larger populations of the larger states can occasionally result in "a larger popular vote for the losing candidate" that is countermanded by greater electoral votes from the aggregate of smaller states. It appears that smaller states can have more per capita electoral votes than larger states.

    3. When Donald Trump campaigned, he strategically and successfully targeted the electoral votes.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 27, 2016
  19. Life Long Learning

    Life Long Learning Active Member

    In some years past it was the economy.....stupid! This year and "all" years it was the Electoral College....stupid!

     
  20. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    1. Can have? How about do have?

    2. How do you target electoral votes?
     

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