270 or Bust: Electoral College Or Not??

Susanne from North Carolina suggested remarks on this topic.

In my opinion the Electoral College serves a purpose in our country that is as appropriate now as it was when adopted in 1787.  It seems weird to us, that our popular vote doesn't elect the president directly.  Even more so every time the popular vote count is the inverse of the Electoral College result, as happened in 2000, and again a few weeks ago.  It also occurred in 1876 and 1888, and in 1824 (which btw, was the only time the election of an American president was thrown to the House of Representatives).

I don't pretend to understand all aspects of the E.C., but here are some facts and thoughts:

The government of the United States is wisely state-based and population-based, which prevents larger states from controlling all of the issues facing our country.  Every state has 2 Senators regardless of size, and each has Representatives in proportion to its population. The E.C. is in place for the same purpose.  Without it the population centers of the country would elect each president, meaning New York and the Eastern Seaboard, California, Chicago, Miami, Phoenix, Houston and Seattle would determine the winner in national elections.

If there is apathy towards voting in 2016,  imagine a national election without the E.C. giving a voice to every part of the US.  Voters in rural states might as well stay home.  If low-population areas see few national candidates on campaign routes now, without the E.C. in place, candidates wouldn't even bother to campaign in areas whose numbers are so low it's hardly worth their time.

Barbara Boxer, Democratic Senator from California recently said, "The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately. Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts." She hasn't done much research on the E.C. if she thinks that every American vote will become more significant without it.  The Founding Fathers put this system in place to ensure that we all have a voice.

Watch this video for a clear explanation of the Electoral College.

Presidential Parties

In light of last week's elections and the protests that have gone on since, including rioting in downtown Portland, I took a look at the political parties espoused by each of our Presidents since the administration of Abraham Lincoln.  I was curious to see if there is a consistent trend of switching parties in office, and how many years each party remains in the executive office. 

This is a very simple, unsophisticated study and there are many more aspects of each party's incumbency that I could delve into, but for now what you see is what you get.

Including Lincoln's terms beginning in 1861, presidents have belonged to the Republican party for 88 years and the Democratic party for 68 years. 

The longest unbroken stretch for any one party in office lasted 20 years, with Roosevelt's three full terms combined with Truman's almost 2 full terms.

In my lifetime (since 1954), Republicans have held the top office for 35 years and Democrats for 28 years.

I don't know what this all means.  It might look unbalanced to Democrats, yet 'we the people' have made these choices.  We aren't coerced in voting, we aren't intimidated at the booth; voting is secret and personal. 

Winston Churchill supposedly said, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all of the others."  I have visited places where an incumbent president (aka dictator) receives 100% of the vote.  Who does he think he's fooling?  I imagine his people going to the polls with smiles on their faces, the dictator's photo prominently featured on their car windshield, then going home and weeping.  Some Americans are weeping this week, and I understand they are sad to not get what they hoped and planned.  Four years comes around again pretty fast though.


 #     President       Term (s)           Years per Party
16    Lincoln          1861-1865                 4
17    Johnson         1865-1869                4
18    Grant             1869-1873
                              1873-1877
19    Hayes            1877-1881
20    Garfield         1881-1881
21    Arthur            1881-1885                 16
22    Cleveland      1885-1889                  4
23    Harrison        1889-1893                  4
24    Cleveland      1893-1897                  4
25    McKinley      1897-1901
26    Roosevelt      1901-1905
                              1905-1909
27    Taft               1909-1913                  16
28    Wilson          1913-1917
                             1917-1921                   8
29    Harding        1921-1923
30    Coolidge      1923-1925
                             1925-1929
31    Hoover         1929-1933                  12
32    Roosevelt     1933-1937
                             1937-1941
                             1941-1945
33    Truman        1945-1949
                             1949-1953                   20
34    Eisenhower  1953-1957 
                             1957-1961                    8
35    Kennedy       1961-1963
36    Johnson        1963-1965
                             1965-1969                    8
37    Nixon           1969-1973
                             1973-1974
38    Ford             1974-1977                    8
39    Carter           1977-1981                   4
40    Reagan         1981-1985
                             1985-1989
41    Bush 1         1989-1993                   12
42    Clinton        1993-1997
                            1997-2001                    8
43    Bush 2          2001-2005
                             2005-2009                   8
44    Obama         2009-2013
                             2013-2017                   8
45    Trump          2017-

It's Over, But Is It Really Over?

It's early Wednesday morning.  I'm stunned and don't know what to say.  I voted 3rd party and knew my candidate couldn't win, but that's not the point of voting, so.   It was weird sitting there watching election returns and not feeling happy or sad about either candidate's progress.   I did feel that despite her stinkin' politics and decades of baggage that Hilary would actually make a better president.  BYU Professor Daniel Peterson paraphrased P.J. O'Rourke who is voting for Hilary: [compared to Trump] . . .  at least she would be bad “within normal parameters."  Trump is just plain deranged.

Some states' results are so close.  I hope we don't get into the recount mess as we did 16 years ago.  Let it be over.  Really over.

How did we get here?  I don't know, but from where we area let's move onward and upward!

It Ain't Over Til It's Over, But Hopefully It Will Be Over When It's Over

Well, we're finally here folks, the day we've been eagerly waiting for for the last 18 months, haha.  Maybe that is a true truism.  We've been eagerly waiting to get it over with.  After tonight we can put away all our hostility, outrage, irritation, resentment, exasperation, angst, anger, acrimony, animosity, antagonism and every other nasty A word Roget's can throw out.

We're smart enough to know that the issues aren't going to be gone on November 9.  Remember the Bush-haters?  After Florida 2000, they didn't let up for the whole eight years he was in office.  It was despicable and divisive.  Please, please, please, let's not do that again.  Rodney King's famous thought has never been so needed:  Why can't we all just get along?

We're Americans, and we can do it!

BTW, I voted for McMullin, a write-in in Oregon.   We may not like the winner of this contest, but  we suck it up and work for good and right until the next campaign starts in about 12 months . . .

For your amusement:

Priceless

One more short election-related post.  This priceless, witty headline appeared in The Oregonian Wednesday morning:

I'm unhappy and surprised about the outcome.  The campaign was unpleasant in some ways.  I was bothered by a certain phrase that popped up among potential voters, now and again: that we had to choose between the lesser of two evils.  Evil these candidates are not.  Far from it.  They are good people who have differing ideas about what is best for the good ol' USA.  Evil is Stalin and Hitler and Amadinejad and Assad.  Lets appreciate our country and the voting opportunity that sets us apart from much of the world. 

Voting Methods Then and Now

 Depending on where you live, the above photo may or may not be familiar to you. These polling booths are exactly like the ones my folks used to take me to when I was a child. Yes, they took me as part of their civic duty to emphasize the importance of voting. And I never lost sight of that.

I did the same for my children until one day, when Oregonians voted to vote by mail. That was a disappointment to me for several reasons.

First, a community gathering at the local school or firehouse has deep value. You mingle with your neighbors, you witness people doing what in some other countries either doesn't happen, or happens at the peril of one's life. It is a public way to demonstrate your patriotism and your concern for civic affairs.

Second, as I mentioned above, voting in a way that takes a degree of effort sends a message to the younger generation.

So when we went to by-mail voting I realized we had to create a way to make an impression on our children (and now grandchildren). It has worked best to sit down a night or two before election day with the family and spread out our ballots with the voters' pamphlet open and Oregonian summaries available. Sometimes I let one of our kids pencil in the bubbles for me (so arrest me).

Then it's time to deliver them to the ballot box (you can mail them in if you vote early enough). Our local library is the closest place with a drop. And doing it on election day requires patience and careful driving. The scene is not unlike what happens when the latest gadget is released and people clamor to be one of the lucky to buy it first. There's no place to park and people are frantic to get inside before 8:00 p.m. Our library got smart and now on election day volunteers meet your car to take your ballots and drop them in the box.

We delivered our ballots last night with our grandchildren slipping them into the slot in the ballot box. We want them to remember "participating" in voting.

Reminiscing a bit, the first presidential election I remember was Kennedy vs. Nixon in 1960. I was barely six and in first grade. The kids on the school bus  would chant loudly, "Kennedy Kennedy is our man, Nixon goes in the garbage can!!" And then vice versa for the other side. Mom was Republican and Dad a Democrat. I used to eavesdrop on their political discussions.

My first voting election was in 1972, barely at age 18. The voting age  had just been lowered from 21. I honestly can't remember who I voted for that year.



NOTE: Oregon's percentage of people who vote in elections is hardly higher than it was when we had to hoof it to the polling place. Why would that be?