In 2000, elections for the U.S. President were held. The two main candidates were Al Gore, representing the Democrat Party, and George W. Bush, who represented the Republicans. When the results were in, Bush was the winner with a majority of the votes. Electoral votes that is. Gore held the majority of the popular vote with approximately 50 million votes. So even though more Americans wanted Gore to be President, the person who received fewer votes is currently in office. This seems hardly democratic.

The purpose of the electoral college has disappeared. It was created because the Founding Fathers wanted a way to elect a president without political parties or national campaigns. This hope is a lost cause now as the battle for power between Republicans and Democrats plays a bigger role in politics every year. Another reason the founding fathers created the electoral college was because they did not trust the average American to know much about the majority of the candidates. It was feared that citizens would just vote for a familiar face, and not take into consideration the candidates platform and leadership skills they possessed in comparison to others. The only people the founding fathers trusted enough to choose the president were those few highly educated people who would end up chosen as electors for each state. Today, with the media to thank, most Americans know information about numerous candidates who are from across the entire country. All of the reasons for which the electoral college was formed have dissolved with the changing times.

Using the electoral college to choose our president creates a deterrent for candidates to try and center on attracting all areas of society. Candidates know that some states always vote one way. These so called "safe states" are often campaigned in less and fewer resources are spent on them. Those running for office often concentrate much more heavily on "swing states" who will vote both Republican and Democrat. This makes elections much less competitive and focuses the election around small geographical areas and sections of society.

The electoral college does not fit today's society and diminishes the value of the individuals vote. The electoral college disproportionally represents what American citizens want. Though many may say that the electoral college protects states rights, it takes the citizens right away to popular sovereignty. It favors smaller states with fewer people in them, giving their vote more worth than that of a person who lives in a heavily populated state. Some people believe that abolishing the electoral college will make it so candidates only focus on large populated areas. This may be true, but they are representing the majority of the citizens. The purpose of government is to serve the citizens and not to focus on small fractions of the population. For these reasons the electoral college should be abolished.

• Safe states: Alaska and Massachutes
• Swing states: Michigan and Florida
• The Founding Fathers set up a system of government hoping that the person heading it would be one that citizens wanted in charge. They believed in the concept of popular sovereignty, the idea that the government is ruled by the people. How can we say that we believe in popular sovereignty when less than half of the population ever supported our leader in the first place?
• In the 1700s communication was very limited and it was hard for people to hear the views of candidates who were from outside of their state.
• With presidential elections right around the corner in 2008, it seems like a good time to abolish the electoral college. Why not start choosing the President by popular vote immediately? With further insight it is obviously a better idea to wait for the 2012 elections. Campaigning for the 2008 election started much earlier than most presidential campaigns ever do, with talks of candidates as early as 2002. For a long time now those who are running for president have been spending money on their campaigns and formulating them to fit an electoral college determined election. An election that is determined by the popular vote is going to focus more on campaigning over the Internet, T.V., and other highly accessible media sources in order to reach as many Americans as possible. It is unfair to the candidates to force them to change their campaign's halfway through and to make it so they wasted so much money.

New York Times "Can Hillary Upgrade?"

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