Or we could modify our method of electing the president to one that doesnt enable a small handfull of states to decide who should be president of the entire country. Because, i repeat, a system where te candidates from both parties can safely ignore the needs of 38 million people and the sixth largest evonomy in the world is deeply flawed.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
No, it would mean that all 100 whatever million people who vote have a say. The candidates wouldnt be able to cater to the 20 million or so residents of 'swing' states like they do now. I get it. You dont want to guve up your swing state privelege.
No, it's just that that's not how it works.
I suppose you could start a movement to change the constitution and hope to get a 3/5 majority of the states to go along with you, although I can't imagine the fly over states abdicating their influence, small as each may be. It worked to change the way Senators were chosen so it's not an entirely novel idea.
Speaking for myself, I think every state should be a swing state, it shows a level of ideological diversity which seems much healthier than the example of those few high population states you'd prefer run things.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
Undoubtedly we have idealogical diversity here. It's just skewed further to the left than much of the rest of the country. Neither the left nor the right are monoliths of uniformity. There may be some commonalities among the majority of people in those two groups but as LDAHL has pointed out there are 320 million individual ideologies in this country.
Your state could simply eliminate its winner-take-all allocation of electoral college votes. Not all states do it this way...
Of course, then everyone living in your state might have a proportional representation in the electoral college, so people would have to pay attention to more than just the wealthy urban centers.
Before you you get too excited think about this. If Trump resigns or otherwise does not fill his term Pence is first in line to take over. He is no dummy and he is very conservative and has contacts. It does not seem like he criticizes everyone he has to work with. Or shames them. I imagine he has been quietly working with conservatives behind the scenes on his "Christian" agenda. And because he has not been quoted all over the place and has managed to stay out of the limelight he could actually get a lot done. If you think it's bad now, a conservative Pence presidency with the house and the senate there could be much done that will whittle away at liberal policies. Things like LBGtQ rights, abortion, birth control for women, affirmative action, immigration, welfare, confederate statues, health insurance and so on.
Here's my take on this: Ready to be surprised? I believe you and Flowerseverywhere are right, jp1. I especially agree with your line that removing Trump would not make things better but only more stable. This. Yes.
At this point, with my family in Austria worried so deeply for the safety of both myself and my Mom due to Trump having access to the nuclear codes and having his ego issues and having willingness to escalate conflict with North Korea.....I'll take my chances with stable. Have a cousin you are close to and that you care about such as my Cousin Astrid in Vienna cry on the phone and tell you to be like the Jews that left Europe in World War 2 and lived because of this choice (the ones that saw the writing on the wall and left early while it was still possible to do so, Billy Wilder of Hollywood movie fame would be an example).....maybe then you would be all about stability too even though a Pence regime would be an absolute nightmare for the safety net and for human rights/Constitutional rights in general (and please I understand that I get a Pence regime would be). I would however believe that Pence would be more stable around the nuclear codes and I see this now as a situation of survival rather than mere political preference.
I very much see the current GOP leadership (Trump, Pence, and Ryan) as absolute nightmares hell bent on destroying any hope for future for America and Americans unless they are at the top of the pyramid - once again, I look at this in terms of survival only, realizing that many people may end of leaving the United States down the road as it becomes less and less viable as a country - my wish is to have Trump removed mostly to remove his instabilities from having access to the nuclear codes. That and at least Pence knows how to behave himself and conduct himself in public even if his politics would destroy America from within - better this than the end of the human race. But I also understand that it's easy for me to say this as I don't have much hope if any for America and it's future - I'm just very unemotional and very much relentlessly practical about things now. Rob
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