Electoral College exists for reason
On numerous occasions, I've seen comments in the Fence Post that recommended we throw out the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote, ostensibly a much simpler and "fairer" method of picking our presidents. I wonder ...
Illinois has a population of about 12.5 million people. I've read that by the year 2000, almost 9 million of them lived in the greater Chicago metro area. That's approximately 70 percent of the total state population. For those who don't know, the purpose of the Electoral College is to help prevent crowded metropolitan areas from forcing the vote on the rest of the nation.
In Illinois, as in other states, we elect our governors by the popular vote, i.e., the Chicago Metro giant rolling over every other part of the state. As a result, we have elected governors like Rod Blagojevich, George Ryan, et. al.
My point: imagine what we'd get in Washington if we dumped that Electoral College and went with the popular vote. I don't know about you, but I'm not very enthusiastic about seeing that day come.
John Babush
Big Rock