Meet the next President of the United States

[Calculor]

I think Caddies needs some nails for his cross ;_;

[morva]

My first election and I voted for CHANGE!

[Kiaring]

As I read Caddies' post, it occurred to me that those are all very valid IC goals to pursue!




VIVA OBAMA!

[PanamaLane]

We got through the door, quick lets nationalize before anyone is looking. COMRADES!

Seriously though, this election has been amazing and I'm glad we got a good result this go around. Lets not forget though that now the real work needs to begin here in America and across the world. Now is the time to make an impact, so lets get on that, and build something together rather then allow our differences to tear us apart.

Caddies, my country has made mistakes in the past and will in the future, but for at least one day and one night, I'm glad to be able to point to my president and say, we are making important progress in ways even my parents could not have imagined. America has changed because we have changed it. And we will continue to change it. Because in America, when we are given opportunity, we eventually find a way.

[chezcaliente]

Although Caddies... while our mistakes were not quite so far reaching, it took us a good 11 years to implement change in Australia did it not?

Either way. I was excited watching the results pour in. Well done to the United States of America!

[Vlaid]

You know with all the hype over the vote, and how many got off their asses and voted (me included)... when it boiled down to it, what we vote really didn't matter or change the outcome of the vote in the least.

At least the electoral college chose correctly for us, being the wise leaders they are.

[chezcaliente]

lol. I really don't understand why the college system persists when in most states all college votes go to the member who wins the popular vote; AND they've pre-pledged to vote for a particular candidate.

It basically boils down to a direct election anyway, weighted by state population.

[JackOfSwords]

The electoral college REPRESENTS the collective vote of regions.  An electoral college vote for either candidate can't exist without people voting for which candidate it should go to.  I agree it's rather silly, they could just do a popular vote, but having the electoral college doesn't mean an individual vote doesn't matter.

Your vote DOES matter.  It may not seem to, but you have to realize that there's no way to know precisely how people will vote UNLESS they cast it.  Looking at a large gap in the numbers, you shouldn't think "my vote didn't matter", but instead realize "my vote matters because it can help create such a gap."

If you need proof of whether or not your vote matters, look at the 2000 election in Florida.  The voting was so close that only a handful of votes determined the winner, and even then the margin was so tight that they got it wrong.  Gore won Florida, but the Bush supporters rushed to finalize the vote before the real numbers could be determined.

Here in Minnesota, the difference in our Senate race is only 500 votes, out of 2.5 million. That forces an automatic recount - we won't know the results until December.  It only took .02 percent of the people who thought "my vote doesn't matter" to make one or the other candidate the loser.  Every one of the 2.5 million votes cast mattered.

The presidency isn't the only thing you're voting for, and is possibly among the lesser things you're voting for that will immediately impact you.  You're voting for local and state representation, as well, and often for laws, programs and tax rates.  Your vote on these things is extremely important as well.

And that's just the physical reality of voting, and how it matters.  You could write a book about the abstract importance of voting in a democracy, and how our entire nation relies on each individual vote.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... if you are a citizen of the U.S., never ever fail to cast your vote on election day.  And make sure to learn everything you can about who and what you're voting for/against.

It is the most patriotic and American thing you can ever possibly do, and the beauty of it is all of us are allowed to participate!

[Meldread]

It basically boils down to a direct election anyway, weighted by state population.

That is exactly the way it is supposed to work.  It is possible that the Electoral College will not reflect the popular vote, but this is very rare and only happens in very close elections.

The reason the electoral college exists is to give states with smaller populations a larger voice in the election process.  We have highly populated states such as California and New York, and huge rural states such as Alaska.  

There are definite pro's and con's, but it exists for a very important reason.

[PanamaLane]

I think the college system persists for two main reasons.

1. Tradition. As dumb as it is, its a big deal in the US. This is why we do stupid things sometimes, like hold our elections on a Tuesday instead of a weekend when it would be easier for people to get out to vote.

2. Fear of centralization. I think there is a legitimate worry that if based solely on the popular vote the only campaigning would be geared toward New York, California, Texas and Florida. Its really a way of avoiding consolidation of power into these population pockets. As bad as McCain did in New York (only 36%), he still got 2.5million votes out of it, more then his home state and his running mates home state combined. It would be foolish in a popular vote election to not spend as much time where the people are as possible.

I think its dumb, sure. But really there have been only two votes where the population and college did not match, though one was in our lifetime when Gore did it in 2000. The other, I believe, was when Stonewall Jackson got the popular vote and John Qunicy Adams won the college. 4 years later Jackson won both the popular and college against Adams anyway.

[morva]

If you don't vote its basically a slap in the face to everyone who has every died for our country; and to all the people overseas who arnt allowed to vote.

[Invalid_Character]

I read a very interesting article a few years back by a Math or Stats PhD that actually went through a mathematical proof that the electoral college actually increases the power of an individual's vote.

It was pretty complicated, but boils/simplified down to:
Your vote "matters" if you are the single deciding vote (break a tie).
Smaller populations mean that is more likely.
Your state(assuming you aren't Maine or Nebraska) voting all one way magnifies the power of that single vote.

Along the same logic, working to influence others in your state has more impact.  How important is the volunteer who got 100 votes in Florida in 2000?

[Sternhund]

That's pretty cool, Invalid_Character, yet what about the person who voted for the guy that didn't win their state? Doesn't that render their vote "worthless", and couldn't it be argued that both the empowering and weakening of the winning and losing voters evens out?

Sounds pretty cool though. If you know where I could find that paper, I'd be interested in reading it!

[Joe Desu]

Vote vote vote, ...
There were many things to vote on and not just the president.
 
But
 
What about the person who does not read through the thick book explaining all of the propositions?  Should they vote on whether or not allow prop to move forward or not?  I know many people who would vote for some prop based upon the language of the short summary, but would not based upon the details.  Both sides are guilty of making certain things look great on a 30 second commercial, but don't make sense when you look at the fine print.
 
In my opinion, an educated vote is great while a snap decision on election day on a prop that you have never heard of is bad.
 
I would rephrase the comment about slapping as, if you don't learn about the issues and vote based upon reaching educated decisions, it is a slap in the face to those who will be affected.
 
Having said that, yes the presidential candidates certainly get a lot of coverage and it should be easier to make an educated choice.

[Kiaring]

The Electoral College exists because when the game started, Americans picked the "Winner takes all" mode. America sure loves a winner, and the election is no different. If you get half the votes +1 in a given state, A WINNER IS YOU!!!!!


Also, Panama, Stonewall Jackson was a Civil War general who fought for the South. Andrew Jackson is the guy you're thinking of imo.