With the election looming, I’m hearing people complain about the Electoral College again.
So….
A little Electoral College math.
National popular vote for Hillary in 2016: 65,853,514
National popular vote for Trump in 2016. 62,984,828
Difference: 2,868,686 In Hillary’s favor.
California vote for Trump. 4,483,810
California vote for Hillary. 8,753,788
Subtract Trump’s California Votes from his national total and get 58,501,018 from the rest of the country.
Subtract Hillary’s California votes from her national total and get 57,099,726 from the rest of the country
Difference 1,401,292 in Trump’s favor.
On election night I stayed up until the winner was called. Right up until that time, Trump held a strong lead in both the electoral and the popular votes. It was only the next morning when the west coast states, California in particular, were tallied that Hillary pulled ahead in the popular vote.
So, for those of you who prefer that the president be chosen by the popular vote, consider these figures.
49 states and the District of Columbia fairly decisively picked Trump, by nearly a million and a half votes
Another way of stating these figures is that if we exclude California, the collective popular vote elections of the 49 states and the District of Columbia fairly decisively picked Trump, by nearly a million and a half votes.
The Founders didn’t want a single large population mass to be able to lord over the rest of the nation. They didn’t want the tyranny of the majority to steamroll over the rights of the minority.
They wanted the candidate to have to appeal to a broad swath of Americans.
It’s been said that a democracy is two wolves and a bunny voting on what to have to have for dinner.
In this analogy, California is the two wolves, and the rest of the country is the rabbit.
Do you really want one single state to have the ability overrule the collective will of the rest of the country?
Before you say yes, remember, it works both ways. One day, the candidate you prefer will win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote.
That’s the way I see it.
Neill Arnhart lives in Southern Indiana with his wife, step daughter, two dachshunds named Ricky and Lucy, an Australian Cattle dog named Indiana (Indy for short) an inside cat named Elphaba, and about a dozen barn cats. Aside from living in the US, he has lived on the island of Trinidad, and in Venezuela, back when it was nice place.
When not rousing the rabble with sarcastic essay’s, he hides behind the secret identity of a mild mannered insurance agent, specializing in Medicare, and other matters concerning senior citizens.
With the election looming, I’m hearing people complain about the Electoral College again.
So….
A little Electoral College math.
