I’ve laid out the math several times before, arguing that the antiquated electoral college that we use to decide presidential elections can skew the outcome dramatically.<\/p>\n
In the past few election cycles, the unfair distribution of electoral college votes — giving a disproportionate number of votes to small, rural states — tended to favor Republicans.<\/p>\n
It also had the unfortunate effect of causing candidates to essentially ignore many of the country’s biggest, most important states.\u00a0 When was the last time a presidential candidate barnstormed through California or New York?<\/p>\n
Instead, they wind up thumping around in Iowa, Nevada and New Hamsphire.<\/p>\n
But this year the paradigm has shifted in interesting and equally troubling ways.<\/p>\n
Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are locked in a tie in the national polls — literally hovering within the margin of error for weeks.<\/p>\n
Yet Obama holds a commanding lead (yes, still) in the electoral college math.\u00a0 The Democrat currently leads by 5 points or more in states that give him enough 271 EC votes, enough to win.<\/p>\n
(He leads by narrower margins in states that would give him 332 electoral votes, a landslide.)<\/p>\n
There is clearly a disconnect here, a distortion of the national mood by the mechanism we use to choose our most important public official.<\/p>\n
So here’s my question:\u00a0 If Obama is re-elected, despite the fact that Mitt Romney wins the popular vote, will we finally abandon the electoral college system?\u00a0 As always, your comments welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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