WTF
I've gotten interested in politics lately, mostly because of the blogs that I read. I wasn't always that interested, but the 2000 election really taught me how screwed up the American system is...how can we legitimately accept a situation where the popular vote doesn't count towards the final outcome? I can understand that, at one point, having the electoral college made sense...after all, coordinating a national election would have been difficult back in the day...but that's not the case anymore.
Here's why I'm really pissed off about this. Having lived in Virginia for the past 10 years (before I moved to England last year), and being a registered Democrat with general liberal tendencies, my vote never counts...Virginia is a solidly Republican state, which can always be counted on to add it's electoral college votes to the Republican candidate. Without local elections on the same ballot, there is no reason for me to vote in any presidential election. Of course, this hasn't changed since I moved to England and will, thus, submit an absentee ballot in the November elections. I can understand the apathy that is endemic in the current social construct.
The fact that Virginia is a "solid" Republican state, in essence, makes the electoral process a game...the system is "played" to game the system. This can be seen, quite clearly, by the fact that the contested states are the focus of all of the effort on both sides.
I remember during the 2000 election there were efforts to swap votes. Democrats in Virginia (and other solidly Republican states) were offering to vote for Nader in exchange for Nader supporters in Florida (and other "swing" states) voting for Gore in their home states. This, of course, engendered a strong reaction from politicians, and was generally met with derision.
How hypocritical is it to have the people who are making a concerted effort to "game" the system, tell us (the people, who, by the way, should have the real power) that it was unacceptable for us to do the same?
I've gotten interested in politics lately, mostly because of the blogs that I read. I wasn't always that interested, but the 2000 election really taught me how screwed up the American system is...how can we legitimately accept a situation where the popular vote doesn't count towards the final outcome? I can understand that, at one point, having the electoral college made sense...after all, coordinating a national election would have been difficult back in the day...but that's not the case anymore.
Here's why I'm really pissed off about this. Having lived in Virginia for the past 10 years (before I moved to England last year), and being a registered Democrat with general liberal tendencies, my vote never counts...Virginia is a solidly Republican state, which can always be counted on to add it's electoral college votes to the Republican candidate. Without local elections on the same ballot, there is no reason for me to vote in any presidential election. Of course, this hasn't changed since I moved to England and will, thus, submit an absentee ballot in the November elections. I can understand the apathy that is endemic in the current social construct.
The fact that Virginia is a "solid" Republican state, in essence, makes the electoral process a game...the system is "played" to game the system. This can be seen, quite clearly, by the fact that the contested states are the focus of all of the effort on both sides.
I remember during the 2000 election there were efforts to swap votes. Democrats in Virginia (and other solidly Republican states) were offering to vote for Nader in exchange for Nader supporters in Florida (and other "swing" states) voting for Gore in their home states. This, of course, engendered a strong reaction from politicians, and was generally met with derision.
How hypocritical is it to have the people who are making a concerted effort to "game" the system, tell us (the people, who, by the way, should have the real power) that it was unacceptable for us to do the same?
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