Trump tells GOP he wants to get rid of electoral college..

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EC needs to be tweaked not removed. Also, I'm not trying to defend the guy, but he said the same thing prior to the election.
 
Spyder_Monkey said:
But he only won 'cause of the electoral college...
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He probably thinks that he will have no problem winning again after he deports all the illegal immigrants and builds the Great Fence of America.

He already believes that said immigrants are allowed to vote via widespread voting fraud.
 
He only does things that serve his own agenda. If he wants the electoral college gone, it's because his team has a plan to exploit some aspect of it no longer being a part of the election.

Please remember this, everyone. Please. Obstruct everything or get out of the way.
 
I'm British so it's taken me a while to understand what the Electoral College is. But as it's only decided 4 or 5 elections in all of US history why bother with it if it rarely actually decides the vote?
 
kswiston said:
He probably thinks that he will have no problem winning again after he deports all the illegal immigrants and builds the Great Fence of America.

He already believes that said immigrants are allowed to vote via widespread voting fraud.
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Alternate theory: He's sick of the job and wants to commit political suicide without the humiliation of resignation or impeachment. But considering it's Trump you're probably right.
 
This isn't really complicated.


-Trump doesn't actually like or care about the electoral college because it smacks to him of lame boring rules and bureaucracy.
-Trump defended the electoral college for like two seconds on Twitter because it felt like an attack on him, which is the only thing he cares about.
-Everyone points out that Trump lost the popular vote by a significant margin but still gets to be president because of a political establishment rule, which to a guy who convinces himself that he's a rule breaking renegade and everyone loves him and that he has the biggest crowds ever is maddening because it undercuts everything he told himself
-Trump then declares that the popular vote was clearly rigged with illegal votes and they need to make sure that they get rid of all of that nasty rigging
-Trump then questions whether they should also get rid of the EC, because in his, uh, mind (let's call it that), he thinks that once those illegal votes are out of the way and there's no way to win on what he views as a lame stupid technicality, then he'll actually win a second term because America loves him and he's very popular and legitimate and nobody will be able to argue against him and hurt his feelings
 
TheGeniusArcana said:
I feel like people always forget that the EC has a huge role in having minority votes heard at all
Like it's obviously very flawed, but...
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Funny, I remember reading that the EC was a way to appease the southern states that had a smaller population of voters (read: white men) than the north, but hey, if you say so...
 
Slackbladder said:
I'm British so it's taken me a while to understand what the Electoral College is. But as it's only decided 4 or 5 elections in all of US history why bother with it if it rarely actually decides the vote?
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For the most part I would agree. But as it has diverged from the popular vote in two of the last five elections, I'd argue that it's becoming more of a problem. It's particularly problematic given the size of Trump's popular vote deficit here. It's not like this was some razor thin margin. He lost by two percentage points (nearly 3 million votes).
 
The only reason he wants to abolish the electoral college is because he needs to reassure his narcissistic ego and show the world that he can also win the re-election through the popular vote.

This is your POTUS, ladies and gentlemen (Pettiest of the United States).
 
Slackbladder said:
I'm British so it's taken me a while to understand what the Electoral College is. But as it's only decided 4 or 5 elections in all of US history why bother with it if it rarely actually decides the vote?
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It's the only thing that decides the election, it's just the only 4 or 5 times has it not also aligned with the popular vote.

It basically removes all incentive for candidates to campaign and visit any state that isn't a swing state. It also discourages, or removes incentives, for dissenting voters in a locked states from voting for the president, which has an adverse affect on down ballot elections and issues. This means Presidential candidates will spend 90% of the time campaigning in less than a dozen states and the only time they go to other big states like California or NY is for fundraisers that only involve the super wealthy that they can fleece for donations.
 
TheGeniusArcana said:
I feel like people always forget that the EC has a huge role in having minority votes heard at all
Like it's obviously very flawed, but...
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It's the opposite actually. The electoral college was created based on racism to appease the southern states. It kills the voices of minorities.

Just like gerrymandering does. Even though they say "Let's design specific black or Hispanic districts." It does increase the number of minorities in congress, but it decreases their representation overall. Swing districts and conservative districts get to ignore minorities because minorities were gerrymandered into narrow districts.
 
Trump and the Electoral College is like when HHH wanted a rematch against Undertaker to try to end the streak by trying to make the match hilariously in his favor...all it took was Undertaker telling HHH that Shawn Michaels was better than him.

HHH went into that match thinking everything was on his side...and he still lost.
 
Slackbladder said:
I'm British so it's taken me a while to understand what the Electoral College is. But as it's only decided 4 or 5 elections in all of US history why bother with it if it rarely actually decides the vote?
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Enduin said:
It's the only thing that decides the election, it's just the only 4 or 5 times has it not also aligned with the popular vote.

It basically removes all incentive for candidates to campaign and visit any state that isn't a swing state. It also discourages, or removes incentives, for dissenting voters in a locked states from voting for the president, which has an adverse affect on down ballot elections and issues. This means Presidential candidates will spend 90% of the time campaigning in less than a dozen states and the only time they go to other big states like California or NY is for fundraisers that only involve the super wealthy that they can fleece for donations.
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This. It drastically changes campaigning to over-represent the interests of a minority of voters, and technically, the EC is the only thing that decides elections. That it usually agrees with the popular vote is a coincidence.
 
Wait... what if we keep him on the path of thinking he won the popular vote so he pushes to get rid of the electoral college? 🤔
 
TatorTots said:
EC needs to be tweaked not removed. Also, I'm not trying to defend the guy, but he said the same thing prior to the election.
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EC has no place in this day and age. Citizens of America should not have their votes weighted based upon where they live.

It's nothing but a disgusting loophole not being exploited by the GOP ti impost minority rule.
 
I think the Democrats have a huge advantage in the electoral college with many paths to 270. They shouldn't have lost this election but they did somehow. With no electoral college, the Republicans can easily pander their way to victory.
 
The electoral / popular disparity is the source of his anxiety over whether he is a legitimate president. As weird as it may sound coming from him, from a certain angle it makes sense that he'd want to remove the source of his doubt. And for once I say DO IT.
 
Auto_aim1 said:
I think the Democrats have a huge advantage in the electoral college with many paths to 270. They shouldn't have lost this election but they did somehow. With no electoral college, the Republicans can easily pander their way to victory.
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Electoral college encourages state voter suppression, though.

Think about it, in a popular vote contest if a state like Wisconsin or North Carolina wanted a president to pay attention it needs more votes to be worth more. If it's suppressing votes then presidents will care less. Larger states with more open voting would become more popular destinations and places to pander toward. With electoral college Wisconsin and NC can suppress democratic votes and not lose any power or sway whatsoever in the presidential election, though.

That's my biggest reason I want the EC gone. Popular vote encourages states to try and get more voting if they want their voice heard more on the national stage.
 
should let him pursue this, no matter what his actual harebrained reasoning is
it's way better long-term

him being more likely to lose in 2020 because of the change is just a nice bonus.
 
Keep the electoral college, but make it where each state awards the votes based on a percentage of the popular vote.

You carry 60% of the vote in a state with 10 votes, you get 6 votes, and the rest are split up based on the results.
 
peteykirch said:
Keep the electoral college, but make it where each state awards the votes based on a percentage of the popular vote.

You carry 60% of the vote in a state with 10 votes, you get 6 votes, and the rest are split up based on the results.
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Still encourages voter suppression and still overpowers smaller states when there's already two branches of government that amplify those same voices.
 
These four years would be a lot more bearable knowing that the popular vote would count next time. If this week sets the tone for 2020 I have a feeling it is going to be a landslide.
 
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Steve Youngblood said:
Can you walk me through this?
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During the campaign it looked impossible that the GOP could get to 270 evs because the blue wall looked so solid, and the actual victory margin was so less in those states. This is an election that the democrats should not have lost. They were more interested in racking up the score. With the electoral college rules, the path to 270 for Republicans goes through states that are slowly turning blue like Arizona. Getting rid of the EC will make winning more easier for them.

RDreamer said:
Electoral college encourages state voter suppression, though.

Think about it, in a popular vote contest if a state like Wisconsin or North Carolina wanted a president to pay attention it needs more votes to be worth more. If it's suppressing votes then presidents will care less. Larger states with more open voting would become more popular destinations and places to pander toward. With electoral college Wisconsin and NC can suppress democratic votes and not lose any power or sway whatsoever in the presidential election, though.

That's my biggest reason I want the EC gone. Popular vote encourages states to try and get more voting if they want their voice heard more on the national stage.
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Voter suppression is an issue but as we saw in 2008 and 2012, it's not a huge roadblock for the Dems.
 
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