Stop the GOP Electoral College Power Grab in California -- by Barbara Boxer
. . . If you haven't heard already, Republican strategists recently announced plans to begin raising money for a dangerous initiative that would radically change the way California apportions our electoral votes in presidential elections. Rather than awarding all of California's electoral votes to the candidate that wins the popular vote -- the way it works in every single state except the small states of Maine and Nebraska -- their scheme would divvy up California's electoral votes based on the number of Congressional districts each candidate wins.
I'm a strong advocate for election reform. But it's absolutely wrong for California to go it alone. It's just patently unfair for a large "blue" state like California to change our system for awarding electoral votes while other large states which trend "red" like Texas and Florida don't change their system at the same time. [emphasis added]
Click on the article's title for the complete text.
^^^
So NOW we know what Karl Rove's next move is as he heads out the door of the White House!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
two crows
I remember hearing rumblings of this desire quite a while ago but for some reason it died down.
The dirty Republican's will do anything to keep their grubby hands in power. I watched the idiot Rove today and he is disgusting to look at and listen too. That must be a prerequisite of working for with Bush
Anyway I firmly believe the electoral College should be done away with like them scary electronic vote stealers. The EC served a purpose when people couldn't partake themselves but we can all turn on the radio and get to the polls.
I'm in a state that is one of the last to have a primary. The candidates have usually been chosen by the time I get to cast a vote - that is unfair. I would like to have three straight weeks of primaries with only Iowa and New Hampshire going a couple of weeks before the rest. This way, the candidates would spend less time on the campaigns and the rest of us would get a voice in the process. And if we are going to get rid of the electoral college system, let's do it nationwide at the same time.
hi, AAP--
yep. this smacks of what they did in TX when they redrew the map to give the GOP the advantage there. bank on it, they'll do it in every state eventually-- if the Dems let them get away with it.
they know they have to skew the votes in order to win as more and more people wake up to the fact that they are pro-big-business and let-the-little-guy-go- hang-himself.
hey Robert-- haven't seen you in a while. wb.
yeah, it's a pain to be voting in a primary when the nominations are all over but the shouting.
I'd _love_ to see your plan put into action. it would cost the candidates SO much less money-- maybe people without huge personal fortunes could even run for Congress and the Presidency again. wouldn't THAT be nice?
and, I've wanted to do without the electoral college for forever--
I used to think it was used because it was harder to travel back when it was put in place. then, I learned that it was there because the founding fathers didn't trust the rank-and-file to know how to educate themselves well enough to vote intelligently.
today, with mass media and the internet, there's no excuse for not knowing enough to vote intelligently so the college is antiquated and should go the way of the dinosaur. and, yes, it would HAVE to be nationwide.
and, with computers, counting the votes should be a piece of cake-- which makes the college obsolete, for sure.
The Electoral College has been rigged to benefit one party, which is usually the repugs.
Something needs changed, in the general election, most votes really don't matter because the larger states have enough electoral votes to sway the field.
California has long been a thorn in the side of Republicans.
If they could split up our electoral vote it would go a very long way for them.
I suspect they will get no traction on this.
If they do and succeed, I could see Cali splitting into North and South.
It's been too long as it is watching all of California's resources get sucked up by Southern California.
Just because Orange Country has money and is Republican, doesn't mean that all the State's electoral votes should go that way.
But this is the direction they are going to try to take and we'll have to fight it as hard as we can.
Sorry about that TC, I know I haven't posted much, but I'm here every single day. When I found out my Grandmother was dying I was barely able to function and after her funeral, I didn't really post anything on my blog for two days.
I'm getting back in the groove neow.
hi, Larry--
yeah, I believe it's inherently easier to rig the college than it would be to rig a popular vote count.
whether it was originally used to rig the vote to benefit the richer party, I don't know.
I think that was the Whigs when the Republican party was the poor party [back when Lincoln was a member of it -- something the current Rethugs like to point to, tho the party was a completely different sort of animal back then.]
hey, Poli--
I certainly hope you're right about the republicans not getting away with this. acourse, I would've given long odds against their being able to redraw Texas' map to suit their whim, too.
I'm sure they HATE seeing California's 55 votes go against em as often as they do.
and, yeah, if they DO split Cali, the resource drain toward the south would only get worse.
hi, Robert--
no need to be sorry. life happens. I know how that is.
I've spent so much time and energy caring for my mother recently and making arrangements for her funeral [which could happen next year or 5+ years from now -- there's no telling] that I've neglected part of my blogging stuff, too.
then, add the wallpapering I've been doing -- and some days I barely get to nod at the computers as I run past em.
do what you have to do. we'll be here when you get back.
and, again-- I was sorry to hear about your grandmother.
Post a Comment