People seem to whine a lot about the electoral college mostly because their candidate didn’t win and you know when someone loses you need to blame someone or something else not the fact that they are morons.
As European I didn’t understand what electoral college is (even if the EU parliament works on sort of similar principle). Took me few days and acual elections to understand but here is the thing:
The US is made of bunch of states many of them with different culture, not dramatically different, but there IS difference. Cali and Texas for example are massive states. IF the US president was elected by popular vote, you don’t need much of the other states to have a winner. You just make sure you appeal to the people of California and Texas, maybe bunch of smaller states to make the numbers and you can ignore the other 40 for example.
You can hate Trump all you want. You can say he is racist or whatever, I am not arguing over that. But the only reason Hillary won the popular vote is because she won in few big states who have population larger than others. If you are all about fairness and right, tell me is it fair for 3 or 4 states to decide to governance of the other 47? Look at the map. You have about 20 states that voted Clinton, one of them (MN) pretty close to a Trump win. 20 states are NOT half of the US, they are less than a half. She has more votes because she won big population hubs like CA, MA, IL and whatever else I’m missing.
You can hate the electoral college all you want because your candidate lost but try to be honest for 1 second and admit it: IF Clinton had won, but Trump would have won the popular vote, none of you would have cared and you would say: Yes it’s good we have the electoral college.
but.. why does it matter where the voters live? why would it matter if a few states determined it if those were the states with the most people?
a few states determine it as if tbfh.
I don’t see why it matters that 20 states isn’t a majority if they still have more people than the other 30. To me, people should matter, not states.
sorry, I guess it’s just hard for me to understand why people shouldn’t be equal. 1 person = 1 vote just makes the most sense to me, I don’t understand why you’d think it’s a good thing for someone’s individual vote to carry more or less weight based on where they live.
Okay Imagine you live in Village A with population 100 people. Your village is small, you live out of farmland. Your problems are mostly related to your crop and your cattle. Your income depends hugely on farming. This year you are hoping that the government will increase the subsidiary they give to you so you can buy more cattle or maybe plant an extra field which will increase your income. The country you live in (it;s imaginary country we are not talking about the US yet) has few other villages like yours. Each one of them with about 100 people, each one of them has similar issues, not the same but similar. In that country there is one big city. City B. That city has a population of 1000 people, which is twice as big as the population of all the villages combined. The city has city problems. High crime, traffic not enough housing. None of them related to your cow or crop problems BUT the city does consume your cow and crop. However, the city does not realize you have an issue because theyhave more important issues at hand. Like who broke into their home. You don’t have the issue of crime, but you worry that next year you won’t make enough money to feed your family.
Presidential elections comes. Candidate A runs a campaign that tries to make everyone as happy as possible. It;s not possible to please everybody, but in their campaign they have a bit for the Village, a bit for the City. Candidate B focuses their campaign ONLY on the city and say how they will fight crime rate, and build more housing etc. Candidate B doesn’t give a shit about the villages, because there is not enough votes in them. All the villages vote for A bcause even if A will do 50% of what they want 50% is better than 0%. All the cities vote for B because their problems are more important for them than some village’s problems. B wins because the city has larger population. What the electoral college does is forcing a candidate to create a platform that appears to the village AND the city. By doing so it ensures (not always successfully) that a candidate will have in mind that people from different regions have their different needs met.
You still with me? Okay let’s go to the US.
That is map (not divided by states) where Hilary and Trump won. If you split it by state you will see that she didn’t win the WHOLE of California or Washington. She won because she won the big cities. Her platform was created to attract the big population hubs. EXACTLY the reason why the electoral collage was created. The US is a massive country and you might not realize it but there is a big difference between East, West, North, South and the Middle. And by difference I don’t mean some are hillbillies the others are hipsters or whatever. These places have different problems. Some of them don’t have jobs, some of them don’t have schools. If a candidate wins the elections by popular vite it means only these blue areas want them to be their president. The USA is not a democracy. That’s what people mistake. A country as big CANNOT be a democracy simply because it won’t function for so long. A democracy will allow handful of big states to rule over majority of smaller states. Take for example the EU. That is what the EU is. One big state (Germany) telling everybody else what to do. The Euro is falling, the economy of many country is on edge, there is demographic crisis in smaller countries. Because Germany (Merkel) governs the WHOLE EU as if they are all Germany. And they are not. They have different culture, they have different economies and even different values. That’s why the EU is crashing. Because the EU reached a point where one State tells everyone else what to do regardless of how they feel.
You all listened to him before, so listen to him now.
Shit, of all people.
Bernie understands.
Actually I’m not surprised at all. Bernie is an understanding man.
He should have been up instead of Hillary
When a senile old man who has never succeeded at anything in life is telling you why you failed, you know it’s bad.
I can respect him for this
yes
If Bernie had been the democratic nominee, I probably would have voted third party instead of voting Trump. I don’t really like Bernie’s economic policies, but he acts like an adult and I figure he’d have been willing to work with people. And, you know, not sell public policy to the highest bidder.
There was one Democrat I would have voted for specifically over Trump, but balls if I can remember his name anymore.
Jim Webb?
The fact that the millennial idol is siding with Trump says a lot. Take note kiddos.
The dnc fucked themselves by screwing him out of the primary.
Today’s twist and world events lately have showed us lefties how small the bubble we live in is. No matter how loud we scream out our ideals, the “silent majority” exists. In the process of fighting for our rights and ideals, we have long dismissed the fact that they too, have their own concerns. They have felt ignored and lied to by the people in power, and clearly the left hasn’t done well enough to keep them in the loop. We throw them fact sheets and numbers and figures, but we have failed to address their insecurities.
Now, it’s time to start a conversation. Speak up and listen in return, despite your differences. Share your concerns, and explain why they matter.
Because in the end, emotion trumps reason after all.
This includes Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage a constitutional right; Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which reaffirmed a woman’s right to choose first articulated in Roe v. Wade, another Supreme Court case. Grutter v. Bollinger, which instituted affirmative action, the entire body of Civil Rights case law, plus anything related to due process, including the right of minors to due process, your right to an attorney, Miranda rights, inadmissible evidence, etc.
(Even if Trump appoints the worst possible SC nominee, they still can’t reverse any of these decisions without a really significant case coming before the Court with new facts, and then they have to write an opinion stating how this case is different than that other case…it’s unlikely to happen.)
Write law or repeal any existing law
While traditionally, presidents have exerted influence on the legislative agenda (see, Obama’s role in advancing and promoting the Affordable Care Act) they cannot actually write or pass legislation. Bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions must be introduced in the House by a Representative.
Presidents cannot strike down law. Only Congress can repeal laws, and only the Supreme Court can strike them down as unconstitutional.
Presidential influence is just that—influence.
(And if—for example—you are hated by 95% of the party you joined last week, and burned all your goddamn bridges by insulting them at various points in your campaign…..they’re unlikely to partner with you in crafting legislation.)
Make any law or declaration that infringes in any way on the rights of the states
So in the US, most of the rights are reserved to the states. You name it, it’s a state-run power. Criminal procedure and law? States. Medicare and Medicaid? States. The definition of marriage? States. Insurance, health departments, housing, unemployment benefits, public education, all these are state programs. And the president cannot infringe on those powers given to the states.
(This is why down-ticket voting is so important, because Mike Pence as governor of Indiana had 800x the power he’s going to have as VP.)
Declare war.
This one is the most complicated, because with the advent of our “conflicts” in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. there has been a significant shift in the articulation of the war doctrine, and it is one of the least restricted of the president’s “restricted” powers. But, despite all that, a president still has no power to declare war.
Unilaterally appoint heads of administrative departments
Unilaterally make treaties with foreign nations
Essentially, while presidents have a lot of power, it’s mostly unofficial—they can’t make sweeping laws, they can’t overturn existing rights, the most they can do is refuse to enforce them (which is absolutely a threat! and a problem!) but we aren’t electing de facto royalty here.
For you and everyone who feels the same, take a look at this link for a list of things that he will not be able to do as president. There are so many things that he isn’t able to do and can’t do. Look after yourself, anon, and remember that you’re not alone.
Fun fact: If a 3rd party candidate gets at least 5% of the vote, they and their party are eligible for public funding after the election. That could do a whole lot for their possible campaign/s in the future. More funding gives them a better party platform, more exposure to the public, etc.
NEVER FORGET THAT IF PRESIDENT OBAMA HADN’T PUT JUSTICES ELENA KAGAN AND SONIA SOTOMAYOR ON THE BENCH, WE WOULD NOT BE CELEBRATING LEGAL GAY MARRIAGE TODAY. THE SPLIT OF THE VOTE WAS 5/4.
3. U.S. READERS REGISTER TO VOTE HERE AND PLEASE SHARE!
As a long-time Indiana resident, it should say something that so many other people that live in Indiana are happy about Pence becoming Trump’s running candidate only because that means he can no longer be our governor.
He’s had so much of a negative impact on Indiana’s education, culture, and how we all work together.
Pence has already tried to ruin our state. Don’t let him ruin the entire country.
I gots a question. I don’t turn 18 in time to vote against Trump. How can I help?
GREAT QUESTION!!!
Answer:talk to your voting-age friends and get them to vote! If the millennials turn out in November then Trump will go down in a landslide.
If each person who wants to make a difference is able to convince just ONE OR TWO PEOPLE to get out and vote, it will be GAME OVER for Trump.
You don’t have to convince a crowd, just motivate whoever you can and get them to the polls!!!
U.S. READERS REGISTER TO VOTE HERE AND PLEASE SHARE!
This is not a drill.
Register and vote, dammit.
Millennials CAN make change happen.
That’s how we got Justin Trudeau elected in Canada. We voted.
You can do it, USA. This Canadian believes in you.
Just adding that voting third party for President will not help. You need to vote for the Democratic nominee at the top of the ticket. Jill Stein is not going to be President. The Green Party isn’t even on all 50 state ballots and she polls under 9% nationally. Do not listen to people who tell you both parties are the same. Their platforms alone should tell you otherwise.
Do not be like the morons in Britain who “didn’t think [brexit] would happen.” Vote! Support the change you want to see in the world, and oppose the change you don’t want!
I just want to emphasize the importance of voting for members of Congress, because the president only gets to yay/nay a law if it gets through them first.
PiraticOctopus 