A review of a T-shirt with the text "Abolish the Electoral Collage"
I don't remember angry Democrats ever demanding this
before, not even in 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the
presidency. They seem to regard Donald Trump as even worse than George W! In
reality, it's a logical fallacy to treat the “total” popular vote as an
independent variable somehow opposed to the vote on a state-by-state basis.
They are, of course, identical. If the president would be elected by direct
popular vote, voting behavior in all states would shift in ways we can't
predict today. It's a political fallacy to imagine that a direct election would
necessarily favor the Democrats. In fact, the opposite is more likely. A
savagely savvy populist like Donald Trump would have an even better chance
getting elected in a system with no gate-keepers, while bureaucratic or
constitutional “checks and balances” such as super-delegates or electors favor
moderates or – if the system degenerates – corrupted machine politicians. But
sure, if you like your Berlusconi with apple pie, go ahead and make my day…
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