Jettison America’s Electoral College?
Someone recently sent me this article advocating the replacement of America’s Constitutional Electoral College with the popular vote. I hope you will give this article (appearing near the end of this commentary) your careful attention. Its author is a highly acclaimed Ph.D. academician who is a widely noted expert on such matters.
In sharp contrast, I am certainly no expert on this topic. However, I do have a carefully considered opinion that strongly supports the continuation of America’s Constitutional Electoral College.
My judgment is based upon the following observations and I invite you to think about this potentially existential issue.
Please consider the following:
1. Pure democracies are documented to self-destruct and be short lived.
Alexander Fraser Tytler > Quotes > Quotable Quote
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
Of course, one might argue that America is not really a democracy. Instead, America is a Constitutional Republic, based upon democratic processes. Therefore, we may not be so affected by the ravages of human nature (the selfish quest for wealth, fame and power, etc.) as our Founding Fathers had feared.
I am now 77yrs. old. Having read American history carefully and personally experienced stunning damaging changes in our society. tI have sadly observed Mr. Tytler’s chronology of cultural decline unfolding upon us. Our Founding Fathers did their best to protect us from ourselves. Perhaps you will agree with me that we have been failing to do our part to achieve this elusive evolutionary goal.
The following is a quote from a Wikipedia article about John Keane’s thoughts aOf course, one might argue that America is not a democracy. bout about the fragility of democracies (now perhaps Constitutional Republics, also). In 2009, Keane wrote a book entitled, The life and Death of Democracy. The following paragraph is a quote taken from a review of Keane’s warning.
‘An important mainstay of Keane’s account of the history of democracy is the need to understand the inner fragility of democracy – in fact for the author that is a precondition for the survival of democracy. Democracy is by no means indestructible. By 1941, in fact as Keane points out, there were only 11 functioning democracies left in the world. In less than 50 years the work of many dictators and demagogues in the name of ‘the people’ had almost succeeded in wiping democracy from the pages of our history books. The present time is no different, Keane warns:’ “the enemies of democracy are on the rise, and even pundits and panjandrums half sympathetic to it are openly cynical about claims that it is a desirable way of life for all the people of the planet”.[11]
For a full reading of this article see the following: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Death_of_Democracy
2. Our Founding Fathers were very aware of the fragility of pure democracies and therefore created America’s Constitutional Republic in order to create checks and balance’s against tyranny among the powers of its components.
Our Founding Fathers also judged that in a Representative Republic (I.e., the Electoral College) would be less prone to out-come changing voter fraud.
It should be self-evident that, though imperfect as all nations and their cultures are, America emerged as the greatest nation to ever exist on earth. The temporal span of this amazing achievement is open to debate. But, America’s stunning record-setting achievements are not. They are a matter of historical fact.
A very significant part of the balance of power designed into America’s Constitution was the creation of the Electoral College. Our Founding Fathers designed it to mitigate the growth of electoral corruption and the moral weaknesses that destroy pure democracies. One major downfall of democracies is an increasingly corrupt political class creating a growing population dependent upon government “welfare entitlements”. These dependent citizens then produce a growing electorate that vote themselves more and more largess on the breaking backs of working citizens. To do this, the dependent class secures more largess by voting for corrupt and pandering politicians.
This process, as it proceeds, has been named Socialism, and its outcome is most often a catastrophic failure of the state with dictatorships, death and destruction as a consequence.
3. The following two short videos explain the advantages of the Electoral College to America and they document the genius of our Founding Fathers. These, and similar other resources, should have been taught to all of our citizens during their educational experiences.
Please now see this second short video on this topic.
Finally, carefully evaluate the following article that is critical of America’s Electoral College and supports its change to a simple popular vote; a pure democracy.
4. Finally, it is for the reasons stated or displayed in items 1 thru 3 above, and the ones that now follow, that I urge America to resist all Leftist Democrat party Anti-Electoral College and Anti-American initiatives.
- “Although the nationwide popular vote does not directly determine the winner of a presidential election, it does strongly correlate with who is the victor. In 53 of the 58 total elections held so far (about 91 percent), the winner of the national popular vote has also carried the Electoral College vote.” For more information see:
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › United_States_presidential_election
- Please note that the Anti-Electoral College Market Watch author provided data for only the five Presidential elections from 2000 to 2016, to try to prove his point.
- To overturn the Electoral College will require two-thirds of the House and the Senate and ratification from three-fourths of states (i.e., 38 states.) It could be pursued through a constitutional convention. But that would require convening two-thirds of state legislatures with a favorable vote to terminate the Electoral College from 75% of them. By the Framer’s design, this is very hard to make happen and is not a possibility within our foreseeable future.
- Only radical leftist democrats are calling for an end to the Electoral College. I judge that this is but one diversionary strategy they are using to keep voter focus off of their various hostile attacks upon our Constitution and obstructive legislative and Impeachment shenanigans that are focused upon President Trump, the Republicans; as well as virtually all conservative beliefs, values and practices in America.
- The Anti-Electoral College initiative is just one of many assaults by corrupt leftist-democrat politicians to destroy America’s Founding Constitution and “transform America” to a socialist state.
- Finally: In his 2019 #1 Best Selling book, “Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Why the Democrats Must Not Win”, David Limbaugh quotes history professor Allen Guelzo.
‘The Electoral College was designed by the framers deliberately, like the rest of the Constitution, to counteract the worst human impulses and protect the nation from the dangers inherent in democracy. The Electoral College is neither antiquated nor toxic; it is an underappreciated institution that helps preserve our constitutional system, and it deserves a full-throated defense…..This is, after all, a constitutional republic, and even the most casual reader of the Constitution cannot fail to notice that the Electoral College is the only method specified by that document for selecting the president of the United States. For all the reverence paid to the popular vote in presidential elections, the Constitution says not a word about holding a popular vote for the presidents.’ (P. 258)
I urge you to vote all corrupt politicians of any party and Radical Leftists out of office at every opportunity.
Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D., 11/2/19
I also invite you to follow my blog. See the upper right box on this page.
Please Share This With Friends and Family!
Tags: Alexander Fraser Tytler, Constitutional Republic, David Limbaugh, Death of Democracy, Deep State, Founding Fathers, Jettison America's Electoral College?, John Keane, Leftist Democrats, PragerU, Pure Democracy Fails, The Constitution, Transforming America, V. Thomas Mawhinney Ph.D., VTM
Cultural Survival Skills 
Leave a Reply