Bush would never have been elected. Enough said.
^ Posts like these are exactly why I oppose abolishing the EC.
So you both support your arguments for purely political reasons? How pure of the two of you.
Yes indeed Cathcon!
What these two oft forget is that it isn't just George W. Bush who won because of the flaw of the Electoral College. Lest us not forget these men:
1824:
John Quincy Adams (Democratic Republican-Massachusetts) ends up being elected by the US House of Representatives after the candidates in the original election fail to win a majority of the electoral college vote. In the original election he didn't even come close to beating Andrew Jackson who won over 40% of the popular vote AND beat him in the electoral college. Since we all know how well Jackson's tenure ended up being, you know with all that freedom fighting like forcing Injuns from their homes and all, how well do you think things would've been if he won four years earlier?
1876: Perhaps the most infamous example (even more so than hurr durr Bush) would be
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican-Ohio) victory in the election of 1876 where his opponent won more than 50% of the popular vote but lost the electoral college vote by one. Now whether or not the race should've been as close due to Southern governments interference into the elections is up for debate, but as it stands Hayes victory demonstrates that somebody could lose by a considerable amount (47.92%-50.92%) and still become president. But then you got to ask yourself......can you imagine American history had Hayes had lost it? Would it have been better? Would it have been worse? I don't know.
1888:
Incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland of New York loses the election despite winning the popular vote by almost a hundred thousand more votes than his opponent
Benjamin Harrison (Republican-Indiana). There is some debate that the only reason Cleveland won the popular vote was due to Democrats stifling the black vote in the South, but again let's be technical here. In the cruel lens of history Cleveland is record as winning the popular vote, deal with it (just like 1876). However, that doesn't change the fact that he lost the electoral college vote and thus didn't become president. A last minute campaign tactic by the Republicans, namely a letter by a British dude saying Cleveland was cool that ended up pissing off some
Democratic voters, helped Harrison win New York. Imagine if he had lost and Sherman Silver Purchase or the McKinley Tariff never happened.......oh wait.....
So depending on one's perspective the electoral college was either the worst idea ever devised or it was the saving grace of American history. I personally believe it's a mixture of the two: it's neither the best nor the worst system devised. I will admit though, writing what-if timelines would suck without it.
Poll
