Electoral college discussion
M was convinced that Trump became president because the few people in the country who were in charge of the electoral votes decided to pick Trump even though Hillary won the popular vote.
That's not how it worked. But it took a discussion of state electoral college votes and doing some math to show it. I wonder how many people think like she did, because she's not the only one.
So anyway, I tried to boil it down to the simplest/easiest explanation. If someone can make it any easier please do.
Imagine two states side by side. Left has 10 million people and 10 electoral votes. Right has 11 million people and 11 electoral votes. I know that's not how it works but I want to keep it as easy as possible.
Left state has 75/25 blue/red split.
Right state has 49/51 blue/red split.
Left state has 7.5 million Democrats and 2.5 million Republicans. Hillary gets 10 votes.
Right state has 5.4 million Democrats and 5.6 million Republicans. Trump gets 11 votes.
7.5 + 5.4 = 12.9 million Democrats.
2.5 + 5.6 = 8.1 million Republicans.
Huge difference. It takes far less than that difference to win. But as long as there's a difference, there are votes being thrown away by the system.
Trump wins.
From a popular perspective, the left state threw away millions of Democrat votes simply because they were unnecessary to win. They could have won the right state if they moved there but they didn't. Those votes were thrown away by the system but perfectly as it was designed.
The electors did exactly what they were supposed to do, there was no hidden coup. Not that they haven't been that corrupt in the past, just that it hasn't happened in our lifetimes.
So now she has a new life purpose. Abolish the electoral college, not because it's inherently corrupt at top, but it is simply wrong and does not represent the population. Okay.
It was part of the compromise to get the states to join together 200 years ago. It has outlived its usefulness.
Various edits as I reread and fixed stupid stuff. I shouldn't edit under pressure.
That's not how it worked. But it took a discussion of state electoral college votes and doing some math to show it. I wonder how many people think like she did, because she's not the only one.
So anyway, I tried to boil it down to the simplest/easiest explanation. If someone can make it any easier please do.
Imagine two states side by side. Left has 10 million people and 10 electoral votes. Right has 11 million people and 11 electoral votes. I know that's not how it works but I want to keep it as easy as possible.
Left state has 75/25 blue/red split.
Right state has 49/51 blue/red split.
Left state has 7.5 million Democrats and 2.5 million Republicans. Hillary gets 10 votes.
Right state has 5.4 million Democrats and 5.6 million Republicans. Trump gets 11 votes.
7.5 + 5.4 = 12.9 million Democrats.
2.5 + 5.6 = 8.1 million Republicans.
Huge difference. It takes far less than that difference to win. But as long as there's a difference, there are votes being thrown away by the system.
Trump wins.
From a popular perspective, the left state threw away millions of Democrat votes simply because they were unnecessary to win. They could have won the right state if they moved there but they didn't. Those votes were thrown away by the system but perfectly as it was designed.
The electors did exactly what they were supposed to do, there was no hidden coup. Not that they haven't been that corrupt in the past, just that it hasn't happened in our lifetimes.
So now she has a new life purpose. Abolish the electoral college, not because it's inherently corrupt at top, but it is simply wrong and does not represent the population. Okay.
It was part of the compromise to get the states to join together 200 years ago. It has outlived its usefulness.
Various edits as I reread and fixed stupid stuff. I shouldn't edit under pressure.
