A nearly tied vote in November could trigger a landslide

I hate the Electoral College system that we use to elect our presidents. It’s unfair, antiquated, and doesn’t accurately reflect the will of Americans.

In really bad years, you can get a result like the one in 2000. Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote and lost the election. In a democracy, that should be a wake-up call.

This year, Republicans could well get a taste of that same bitter medicine.

Polls show that Barak Obama and John McCain are effectively tied in opinion polls — with one or the other taking a 5% point lead on any given day.

Even the wildest swings barely bring us to a 50-40% split (one poll currently has Obama up by a 51-41 margin).

But it’s increasingly possible that Barak Obama could win the Electoral College tally by a landslide.

If Obama squeaks out wins in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, he could walk away with 333 Electoral College votes — to McCain’s 205.

One problem is the winner-take-all nature of most state contests. States that are essentially evenly divided give ALL their votes to one or the other candidate.

That’s as inaccurate in Texas (where 38% of voters prefer Obama) as it is in New York (where roughly 40% of voters prefer McCain).

The bottom line? An election should serve as a kind of mirror to a community, reflecting its values, its demographics, its ambitions.

But the Electoral College is, at best, a funhouse mirror.