Politics Thread

[GoMuskies]

JD Vance's Joe Rogan appearance is now out on Spotify. Three hours and 15 minutes for Vance.

[xubrew]

Does anyone really think the Left would be talking about doing away with the Electoral College if they had lost the popular election, but won the electoral votes? Of course not. They’d be praising the wisdom of the founding fathers. The Right would then be screaming to replace the Electoral College.


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Correct.

Now, what do you think would happen if the electors decided “this time we are actually going to convene as a college!” And then decided “You know what? While convening a lot of us decided to vote differently and we’ve actually elected someone else.”

Would people like that?? Is that a genius format??

The people weren’t supposed to elect the president. That’s why there is an electoral college. People praise it as some ingenuous way to represent all the people, when in reality it was actually put into place to remove the people from the process

[Xville]

Correct.

Now, what do you think would happen if the electors decided “this time we are actually going to convene as a college!” And then decided “You know what? While convening a lot of us decided to vote differently and we’ve actually elected someone else.”

Would people like that?? Is that a genius format??

The people weren’t supposed to elect the president. That’s why there is an electoral college. People praise it as some ingenuous way to represent all the people, when in reality it was actually put into place to remove the people from the process

It was ingenious. Two hundred plus years ago, it made a whole lot of sense in its original composition. The way that it has changed over the years fits well in today’s society and again it is ingenious. I don’t know why you feel the need to poo poo on it.

In a country this big, with a wide array of different people, cultures, living situations etc, I believe it is the best way to elect a president. Until given a better solution, I’ll feel that way. A popular vote where a few urban centers decide the presidency is not the better solution. It’s what the founding fathers were trying to prevent. That is ingenious with a lot of foresight.

[xubrew]

I don't think I'm poo-pooing on it. I just don't buy it as something that is essential, nor do I think of it as something that we can't at least discuss changing. I'm also pointing out that most proponents of it don't really understand how we came to have it in the first place.

People say they're concerned that a popular vote would mean just a few urban centers would decide the presidency. I don't buy that at all because there is just no evidence of that. London does not decide England and Great Britain, and if anything the opposite is true. Rome doesn't decide Italy. Berlin and Hamberg don't decide Germany. In Canada they don't just seem to go to Toronto and Montreal. Most democratic countries decide their president via a popular vote, and in pretty much all of them it seems as though the opposite is true. The candidates seem to go out and try to win over the entire country and not just a few areas of it. If I'm wrong, then where do you see that as not being the case? Does this happen at the state level within the United States? In Kentucky did Andy Beshear only focus on Louisville and Lexington and completely ignore everyone else? In Nebraska do candidates only go to Omaha? In Indiana do they only really care about Indianapolis? When you look at it, it actually seems that the opposite is true. Candidates who try and win the popular vote actually focus on connecting with more places and not less. I used to live in Alabama. Birmingham was its biggest city, and it's actually a fairly blue city. It NEVER swayed anything politically.

[Xville]

Why would it be 2 or 3 states? If the national vote came down to the winner by 5,000 votes, every vote in every state would count.

I seriously wonder what critical thinking skills you were taught by statements like this. Where are the highest population centers in the United States? Who do you think politicians would cater to if that’s the way we elected a president? The electoral college is by no means perfect, but based on how big of a country we are, and the differences we have across the country, it’s the best we have until someone comes up with a better solution. A national popular vote is not.

[Xville]

I don't think I'm poo-pooing on it. I just don't buy it as something that is essential, nor do I think of it as something that we can't at least discuss changing. I'm also pointing out that most proponents of it don't really understand how we came to have it in the first place.

People say they're concerned that a popular vote would mean just a few urban centers would decide the presidency. I don't buy that at all because there is just no evidence of that. London does not decide England and Great Britain, and if anything the opposite is true. Rome doesn't decide Italy. Berlin and Hamberg don't decide Germany. In Canada they don't just seem to go to Toronto and Montreal. Most democratic countries decide their president via a popular vote, and in pretty much all of them it seems as though the opposite is true. They seem to go out and try to win over the entire country and not just a few areas of it. If I'm wrong, then where do you see that as not being the case? Does this happen at the state level within the United States? In Kentucky did Andy Beshear only focus on Louisville and Lexington and completely ignore everyone else? In Nebraska do candidates only go to Omaha? In Indiana do they only really care about Indianapolis? When you look at it, it actually seems that the opposite is true. Candidates who try and win the popular vote actually focus on connecting with more places and not less. I used to live in Alabama. Birmingham was its biggest city, and it's actually a very blue city. It NEVER swayed anything politically.

In the case of beshear, yeah pretty much his focus was three areas Louisville, Lexington and nky. He won because Bevin was an effing moron and pissed nky off.. handed beshear the job.

Germany is elected by something that resembles an electoral college and the legislature votes in the chancellor.
Uk they are elected by legislature; Italy the same.

[xubrew]

I think Donald Trump just announced that he's running for president of Bangladesh...

https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status...33622494105832

[paulxu]

I seriously wonder what critical thinking skills you were taught by statements like this. Where are the highest population centers in the United States? Who do you think politicians would cater to if that’s the way we elected a president? The electoral college is by no means perfect, but based on how big of a country we are, and the differences we have across the country, it’s the best we have until someone comes up with a better solution. A national popular vote is not.

See Brew's note above for a better understanding.

[paulxu]

Those left wing idiots at the Wall Street Journal are at it again. They must have read the Economist.

https://wallstreetjournal-ny.newsmem...e539f9_134d4ab

[Strange Brew]

Those left wing idiots at the Wall Street Journal are at it again. They must have read the Economist.

https://wallstreetjournal-ny.newsmem...e539f9_134d4ab

People still read the Economist? ;)