Tuesday, November 13, 2012

George Advises Me on How to Elect a President
  "Hello, George? George Washington?"
  "Yes, this is George."
  "George, this is John -- John Jackson. I'm calling you from 2012. How's everything doing back there in 1789?"
  "Oh, real good. You know I was just elected president, don't you."
  "Oh, yeah? Well, that sure is kind of neat. We just had an election of our own, you know."
  "You did?"
  "Yeah. Actually, that's why I'm calling. I'm wondering if you think we're doing it any differently now."
  "You still have the Electoral College, don't you?"
  "Yes."
  "Well, then you're still doing it the same. That's how we set it up."
  "Yes. George, I was wondering how many popular votes you just got, in your election."
  "Oh? Well, I don't know that I got any at all. That's not the way we set it up, you know."
  "Yeah, I see, and I know the Electoral College votes are the only ones that count, but, I was just wondering how many popular votes you got."
  "Oh, John, Could you be so serious? Some states didn't have a popular vote, at all. All the states were allowed to elect their members to the Electoral College in the manner they saw fit. In some, the state legislatures elected the delegates. Now, there were six states that let the citizens pick the Electoral College delegates, and the delegates who voted for me did receive a total of 38,818 votes."
  "So, you received 38,818 votes?"
  "Well, no, at least I don't think so. That would depend whether it was my name on the ballot, or whether it was the delegates' names on the ballot. Tell me, how are you doing it up there in your day, up there in 2012?"
  "The presidential candidates names are on the ballot."
  "Not the delegates' names?"
  "No. We don't even know who the delegates are. It's not like the day after the election the newspapers are screaming, 'Jumian James Wins Spot on Electoral College.' "
  "No?"
  "No."
  "Well, then, what do you think of the republican form of government?"
  "George, you're asking me?"
  "Well, yes. We set it up that way. So I'm just wondering what became of it."
  "Well, actually, we've still got it. We still have the Electoral College."
  "I see. But you don't even vote for the electors, but just for the presidential candidates themselves?"
  "Yes."
  "And, you don't even know the names of the electors before you vote for them."
  "No. I guess not."
  "And their names are not even on the ballot?"
  "Well, no."
  "And once the election is all said and done, no one even knows the names of the people they've elected?"
  "Guess not."
  "They don't even care. It doesn't even matter?"
  "Not to me, it doesn't."
  "Well, John, I must be going. I've got a call coming in from 2032. I'm hoping it has better news."
  "Wait! George, before you go! Please tell me if you think we're doing it right."
  "John, I'm sorry, but we set it up so the Electoral College members were to be trusted with a very important task. And to these people you give no thought at all as to who you are electing. Did you say you don't even know their names?"
  "Yeah. We don't even know who we're electing."
  "No?"
  "It's really of no concern."
  "No?"
  "No. Not at all. As long as we've got a warm body to vote for our Republican or Democrat, what more could we ask for?
  George didn't answer.
  "You wanted us, maybe, to make this Electoral College into something more substantive?"
  "John," George said in exasperation, "do you even know what a republican form of government is?"
  I put George on hold and scurried off to find my dictionary. Hurrying back, I said, "George? Yes, I've got it right here. It says, 'A state in which the power is vested in the people and is exercised by governing officials chosen either directly or indirectly by them.' "
  "Yes. Thank you."
  "But, since it says, 'either directly or indirectly,' that means we can elect the president directly. But, we don't. The Electoral College hasn't gone anywhere since you set it up."
  "No?"
  "No."
  "Well, John, I must disagree. Your Electoral College is not performing a republican function at all. It's simply stamping approval on the popular vote after the count is slightly altered. Your Electoral College does not deliberate, does not debate nor discuss, and does not weigh the matter of who the president shall be, at all. What is that expression you have up in your day? Your Electoral College might as well be programmed by a computer, for all the effort it gives to this matter. Why do you even still have one?"
  "What do you mean? I thought you'd be glad to hear we still had it?"
  "But why have it, if you are not going to use it?"
  "Well, we kind of, sort of do."
  "John, if electing an elector is to mean anything at all, they've got to bring something to the table. Maybe you could elect people you thought had wisdom."
  "Why ever would we want to do that? We can just vote on them because they are Republicans or Democrats. That's all that matters. We've broken the system down to where its a lot simpler."
  "Broken it down, is right. You've done just a wonderful job of breaking it."
  "George, if you were alive today, which party would you belong to?"
  "Neither. I am not a member of a party today, so why would I join one if I were alive in your day?"
  "I see. Well, to us, parties mean everything. We don't need to elect smart delegates because the only thing that matters is if they are Republican or Democrat. We don't need to know their names. We don't need to know who they are. We don't need to talk to them. Nothing. All we need to know is whether they are Republicans or Democrats."
  "Well, John, I'm going to go ahead and take this call from 2032. Maybe he'll feel a little different. I sure hope so. It would be neat to see if the way we set things up meant something to those of you in the future."
  "Oh, George. You're our hero. What you've set up for us does mean something to us."
  "Yes?"
   "Yes!"
   "Then, just try it the way we set it up. That's all I would ask."
  "George, we just thought the only reason you set up the Electoral College was to give the smaller states a little help. Since the delegates equal the number of senators and representatives, that means a portion (two electoral delegates) are there regardless the size of the state."
   "Thanks, John. And, you're right, that is a good thing. But make the delegates mean something. If we had meant just to even up things for the small states, we could have just weighted the votes and made them automatic. We didn't need to set it up with actual people to do the voting in the Electoral College."
  "I guess I see what you mean. You have been pretty persuasive."
  "Just try this, John, please. Put aside the bit about electing people who will vote automatically based on party. Just see if you can make the republican principle work. You might like it. You might find it to be quite a nice thing. Have your Electoral College delegates actually do something, mean something, and put some actual thought into who they will vote for for president."
  "Yes, George, I guess I don't have but a sliver of a whisper of a voice in what America does -- if even that -- but it does seem you might be right. I do wish we would do it the way you are suggesting."
  "Well, thanks for calling, John. You can't read our minds all those years later, to know what we were trying to do. But, it sure seems, if we set it up this way, with delegates to do the electing, then it might we worth a little something."
  He then hung up, and I was left to wonder how his call was going with 2032.

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