The President is not the President of the American People. S/He is not the President of the assorted cities. S/He is the President of the United States. The Electoral College is the process in which the States choose a President. This system was started to limit the power of states which were densely populated. The smaller states really liked this as they had some small effect in the election instead of being dictated to by the larger states.
But let's consider the alternative. Do we change the title of the job? We can't really pretend the States picked the President if we go with popular vote now can we? Do we allow the states to decide who votes? In some states convicts who are out of prison and have completed parole and probation are granted their voting rights again. If we go to popular vote can we allow these people to vote, or deny them the right to vote based on a state law that affects the choice for election of the Peoples President?
How about Voter ID. You do realize that the requirement for a voter ID could well be put into the amendment. The way and times that a vote is cast could also be included in the amendment. If we are going to be considering one constitutional change, what makes you think we won't address them all or even just several. Before you start screaming that it is unconstitutional remember we are talking about a Constitutional Amendment which if it is ratified is automatically Constitutional. The Supreme Court can't do a thing about it.
If Republicans agree to go to the Popular vote but demand Federally Approved identification be checked by a voting official prior to casting a vote would you agree?
That is really what we are talking about, putting our entire Electoral standards up for negotiation.
All so we can further amend the Constitution to show that the one who wins is the People's President. But not the President of the United States. Because the States would be little more than districts.
Read the whole thread, forget about what the left says, lol.
Here is the deal---------->make an offer we can not refuse, or shut up. You are out of power, and won't see the light of day more than likely, until 2024!
Um. I'm new here. But I make no excuses for what I am or what I believe. I did not. Nor have I ever supported Hillary for anything. I argued many times on Discussionist that Hillary was probably the most corrupt candidate we've ever had. I included Nixon in my comparison who was re-elected despite overwhelming evidence that he was Richard Nixon.
I also said that whoever was elected would probably be a one term President. This was based upon the recognition that both candidates were only slightly more popular than Herpes.
I'll also say that if the Democratic Party pulls its collective head out of its ass and starts to give a shit about the Blue Collar workers again they will do much better in the future. Right now that seems unlikely since they are still stomping their foot in fury and calling anyone who voted for Trump a racist. Apparently that includes the nearly 30% of Asians and Hispanics that Trump won.
But we shouldn't let facts get in the way of a good rant. So I'll give you a position of mine that you will probably hate. I believe that we should reform the police and drastically reduce the power and authority they never should have had. This includes repealing the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights series of laws.
Savannahmann, Trump is immensely popular. Where did the narrative come from that both candidates were equally hated? I guess its a matter of opinion but I do believe Trump is very popular with a large segment of the population.
The Democrats will never serve the white working class, whites in general, Christians or in the end, native born American citizens. They have spent their capital on opposing anything and everything that Americans hold dear. Their trick has always been to meld smaller dissident groups together against the majority (which they work on dividing). Homosexuals, union bosses, lawyers, blacks, abortionists, pornographers, single moms, atheists, Muslims, Jews, illegal immigrants and so on. Any move they make towards main stream america would cause their coalition to splinter.
But dividing the majority has always been a necessary part of that. And thus their terror at whites voting as a block. They speak of Trump "appealing to white working class" as if it is the most racist thing they ever heard...and then put on a rally to "get the black vote out".
But we have had enough and I think they know they overplayed their hand. Probably it was forcing homosexual marriage licenses down our throats that did it or Hillary and Obamas push to swamp Americans with "refugees". But whatever it was Trump knew people were fed up and he capitalized on it.
I dont see how the Democrats can change. And I dont really even see them wanting to. The important thing here is that they are down and beaten and need to be kicked while down until they dont get up again.
Um. No. Trump is not immensely popular. Even if Hillary had won the electoral college, she still would have won a plurality of the vote, not a majority. Hillary's fallibility numbers which are terrible.
RealClearPolitics - Election Other - Clinton: Favorable/Unfavorable Trumps which are only slightly worse.
RealClearPolitics - Election Other - Trump: Favorable/Unfavorable
The first step to dealing with any problem is an honest assessment. If we are honest, we can admit that both candidates were deeply unpopular. This is just one example of people who could not bring themselves to vote for either candidate.
More Oklahoma voters left presidential ballot blank than in 2012 There were other stories where both candidates were intolerable to some of the voters.
Now, onto your not caring about whatever group of Americans. I had a very easy time in one respect when I joined the Army. I honestly didn't give a damn what color anyone was, so I had no issue with the idea that all soldiers were green. I grew up in a neighborhood where we were one of a half dozen or so families that were not Hispanic when we lived in California. I don't give a damn what color anyone is. When I was a boy, long ago, and sometimes it feels like a family far away, the adults were Mr. or Mrs. or Miss. There were a few exceptions. Priests were Father, and sports instructors were Coach.
I don't give a damn what color anyone is, me, thee, or whatever. Apparently according to exit polling, thirty percent of the Asian and Hispanic population didn't give a damn either.
2016 election results: National Exit polls They voted for a candidate roundly criticized for being racist, sexist, homophobic, misogynistic, and apparently so dumb that he couldn't tie his shoes. Despite all of that, they voted for Trump.
Whites didn't vote as a block. I don't know where that nonsense started, but look at the exit polls. Fifty Eight percent of the Whites voted for Trump, and even with that he would have lost if not for the various minorities who voted for him. Trump picked up more black support than Romney did. He picked up a lot more support from Asians and Hispanics than the Republicans have before. So if you think someone should be thanked or cheer for Trump being elected, you might want to look at about one in five minorities who voted for him. Because he would have lost without that support.
Seriously. I hate the hyphenated American nonsense. We are all Americans. I may feel superior in some cases. Better trained, more experienced, more intelligent, perhaps better read. But should I ever find my sense of superiority ever reduced to how much pigment I have in my skin, I hope that someone puts me out of my misery, because that is a pathetic excuse for self.
Back to that Honesty thing we were talking about before. Republicans are not right on every issue. No more than Democrats are, nor Libertarians. The truth is usually somewhere inside the various factions. I've long railed against the party identified politics. I've complained that the smartest thing anyone could do is going back to compromise politics. Here is what I mean by that, as one example.
Many Democrats believe Marijuana should be legalized. Libertarians, generally speaking, believe the same thing. Libertarian leaning Republicans can probably be counted on for a vote to legalize. So the stupidest thing ever is to refuse to work across party lines to get that done. Refusing to work with Libertarian leaning Republicans to get the bill moving is just flat stupid. The same is true of the Libertarian leaning Republicans. Refusing to work with Democrats on that one issue because you disagree with them on others is asinine.
I once argued that point with a Liberal, and he got all up in arms wanting to know what we do when the Libertarian wanted to abolish the Department of Education. I said stupid, it is one damned issue. Just one. You agree to work together on that one issue. Nope I was told, we can't do anything until we control the House and Senate. So I should vote Democratic because one day, way off in the future, we might have enough of a majority to do something? Would this be before or after I retire? I only ask because Republicans look set to control the house until about 2030 or so.
The only thing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on is spending more money than they take in through taxes. The Democrats want to spend it on social programs and the Republicans want to spend it on new planes and tanks and ships for the military. They both want to spend billions on some nonsensical ideal of safety through spying on everyone in the nation nonsense.
Both parties are full of shit. Both parties are pathological in their lies to the American People. This election, I believe that Trump was less full of it than Hillary, only because Hillary was reaching White Dwarf Star levels of shit. I've also said that I wouldn't trust Hillary if she told me night was dark and day was light. The Democrats screwed the pooch royally. The so called thin back bench is bullshit. That was arranged so Hillary would have this election. She had it, part of a deal from 2008 I'm sure. But the Democrats have a chance to pull their heads out of their collective asses, and if they do, you'll find yourself on the outside with some lunatic on the left screaming they're out of power, now we need to make sure they can never win again.
Stop hating those who think differently than you do. Because as we've learned with the Russians, when we hate, we become that which we hate. We hated the KGB, the constant spying on the Soviet Citizens. The threat of arrest in the small hours of the night. Now, we have our own collective KGB with every damned federal agency including the Department of Education in possession of a SWAT team. We used to respect the bill of rights, and now we're working around the clock to figure out how to get around it. None of it has stopped one terrorist attack. All it has done is given proof to the Orwellian nightmare that was in 1984. Fusion centers from the NSA, Star Trek command decks at various alphabet soup agencies. The ability to listen to any phone call, or read any email. None of it has done a damned thing to make us safer. It has essentially voided out the Sixth Amendment, but whatever, it's not like we care unless it's the second right?
Another one of those things I was taught. Be a good winner, and loser. When you win, don't scream in your opponents face. When you lose, accept the defeat with grace. I don't care what anyone else does. I don't have to look at them in the mirror, and I damn sure don't want to. I do know when I pass from this life, I want to be able to stand before God, and my Father with pride knowing I lived a good life, with honor. Perhaps I'm old fashioned in that respect. But it works for me. And I can stand to look in the mirror when it's time to rake the whiskers off my face.