Disunited States

Crossposted @ greenmountaindaily.com


While we're shaking up the political scene in the U.S., I think we're due for a revamp of a little something I call government as usual. This long drawn out primary has convinced me it needs to be a short quick process. Left to their own ends, the candidates are pulling off the gloves, to no ones benefit. Look at McCain & Romney, and Obama & Clinton, dividing their own parties. It makes people want to turn off their TV's already and we've got till November.


1st change is a national primary. A week of televised debates on real issues, then everyone in the country votes in a primary. There shouldn't be any states whose opinion counts anymore than others. It would cut down on costs and why should the states be treated unequally? The only thing going on in our nations economy right now is all the wealth being spent and applied toward the presidential election. Think about it, if the money was being put toward job creation or national debt our economy wouldn't be going down the pooper.


2nd change is along the line of treating all states equally, and goes along with the idea of a national primary. We eliminate the electoral college, the president must win by popular vote. After all, are we not all americans? Does one person's vote not count equally as anothers? The person getting more votes from citizens should be the winner. This would be true democracy, not the watered down version we've all been fed for years. Yes, it would make campaigning harder, to reach a bigger audience. But then maybe real issues would be addressed instead of proving which candidate can bicker and sidestep issues more. We need a president who can lead, unite, and bring the hope of prosperity. Not divide and conquer.

Jumping Ahead To The 2008 Presidential Election...........

.....I still have to wonder about what part the electoral college will play in the outcome. Here we are over 200 years later and still one person's vote does not count the same as another's. The state you reside in being the deciding factor. Are we not one nation?


We fought a war to be one nation. We've fought many wars as one nation. We are all Americans. More than this though it's a simple matter of numbers. A candidate may have more Americans vote for them, but because of the electoral college, lose the election. If more people in the United States voted for a candidate, they should be president. That is true democracy.


Its too bad the constitution has no provision for emergency constitutional conventions. Suspend the electoral college, make the 2008 election by popular vote. Yeah, that'll happen.... It's almost like the framers intended to make a constitutional convention timeframe prohibitive. They understood humanity well. Make it a difficult and time consuming process and they'll lose interest.


So we're stuck with it. The residents of some states votes do count more than others. These will continue to be "key" states for candidates to campaign and spend money in. I really do feel this is a black eye on our American democracy. In this day and age we can and should do better.