Month: November 2016

Why We Need the Electoral College

This conversation happens every election season. We look at the Electoral College – 538 people chosen to cast our votes for president – and wonder, “Why? Why can’t we all just cast our ballots, count ’em up, and declare a winner?”

There’s one big reason: our founders were smart enough to prevent the tyranny of the majority.

This isn’t about protecting slaveowners’ rights, this isn’t about protecting a buffoon from becoming president, this isn’t about preventing an uneducated populace from making a stupid decision. This is all about the protection of our freedom.

Let’s think about what would happen if the popular vote decided the election.

First, candidates would only bother campaigning in highly populated areas, getting the most bang for their buck. They’d be all over California and New York…but what about Iowa? Rhode Island? A few rallies in California might turn out more potential voters than all of the people who vote in Montana. Suddenly, low-population areas have no voice.

But they don’t have a voice now! you say. Untrue. 538 is an even number, and it’s possible, though unlikely, for the electoral votes to be tied between two candidates. Even one electoral vote can make a difference. And swing states change with every election. Hillary Clinton thought she had Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin tied up this time around. Wisconsin hadn’t voted Republican since 1984! Candidates ignore states, even small ones, at their peril.

Two, each state has its own election laws. I can vote by mail in California, some states allow early voting, some ban felons from voting. To get rid of the Electoral College, you are asking all the states to come to an agreement about one voting process. But the states base their laws on what the local population wants, what works best for them. You are asking states to give up that freedom, and for everyone to bow to the pressure of the majority.

Or the states keep their different election laws…and suddenly, you have endless opportunities for lawsuits. If everyone’s vote counts in one big election, why should a felon in California get to vote, but a felon elsewhere be denied? Why should someone be allowed to vote early in Florida but not in Nevada? Obviously, this wouldn’t work.

And what about voter fraud? Fake ballots, or not counting proper ballots, would have a direct effect on a popular vote. It would be very easy to game the system. But it’s very difficult to affect the outcome of the election with fraud using the Electoral College. You would have to have a coordinated effort in the right combination of states, and this is very hard to anticipate. Just look at this election. Hillary Clinton thought she had the blue wall sewn up. Even if she had the will and the means to try to commit mass fraud, those efforts likely would have been in the wrong states.

Our founders never intended for the US to be a pure democracy. A pure democracy ignores the voices of the minority. The Electoral College is an ingenious system that gives every state, and every voter, a voice. A popular national vote does not.

Why Clinton Lost, and Why the Left is Bewildered

A few weeks before the election, one of my childhood friends on Facebook posted a rant saying that if you support Trump, you are no longer her friend. She doesn’t want to know you.

I tried to engage her. I wrote that her statement was strong, and could we talk about the issues before she turned her back on people she had loved and admired all her life.

Her response was to basically spit in my face. And she wasn’t alone in her attacks.

So at the polls, Trump supporters spit back.

The left looks at Trump and wonders how the hell this happened. How anyone could support him. The irony is, I think a lot of people who voted for him don’t support him. They are simply tired of all the self-righteous people on the left spitting in their faces.

The left touts itself as the party of inclusion. Of open-mindedness. Of equality. But it has morphed into that which it despises.

Take racism. Racism is treating someone differently based on race. Once, the left wanted a color-blind society. Now, I am supposed to be ashamed of being white. I am supposed to apologize for my accident of birth and call out my white privilege.

White women are supposed to be ashamed for betraying “their people” and voting for Trump. Huh? Since when do my interests and beliefs align with all other white women in the country? Why do we even keep track of who votes for who based on race? Isn’t that racist?

Voting should have nothing to do with race. We should be voting based on economics, our values, how we view foreign policy. Race should be like hair color – a genetic legacy, separate from character and behavior. Should blonds vote in blocks?  Should the tall rule over the short? It’s a ridiculous concept.

But it’s an ingenious strategy – instead of focusing on the issues, just cry, “Racism!” whenever someone disagrees with you. That shuts them up real fast.

That’s why all the polling was wrong. Trump supporters were shut up. But that’s the great thing about the polling booth – you can vote for whoever you want, and no one is shouting you down.

I also find it incredible that so many people were able to overlook Hillary’s flaws (read: crimes) just because she was a woman. That wanted to break that glass ceiling. But that in itself is sexist – voting for a candidate just because of her gender! I don’t give a shit what gender my leaders are – I just want them to be capable, honest, upstanding. Hillary is none of those things, and if she were a man, she still wouldn’t have gotten my vote.

But I’ve been told that I hate women if I didn’t vote for her. Huh? Couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m a woman, and I love myself. I just didn’t want someone so corrupt and beholden to the elite representing me.

So the left is racist, and the left is sexist. They’ve also become bullies.

Shame on you. You reap that which you sow. I hope you can take a good look in the mirror and change the way you interact with the other side, because there are worthy values on the left. Unfortunately, they’ve become twisted.

But I’ll extend the offer to anyone on the left that I made to my former friend on Facebook: engage. Let’s talk about the issues. Let’s refrain from bullying. That’s the only way we can come together and move forward.