NationStates Jolt Archive

If there's anything the 2000 election has taught me, is that the Popular vote can go one way, but the Electoral College and always go in the complete opposite direction. So, one has to ask themselves, with the Electoral College apparently deciding who actually gets the Presidency is there any real reason for people to take part in the '08 General Election?

Yes I will be voting in the '08 election even though a single EC vote won't go for Libertarian.

If there's anything the 2000 election has taught me, is that the Popular vote can go one way, but the Electoral College and always go in the complete opposite direction. So, one has to ask themselves, with the Electoral College apparently deciding who actually gets the Presidency is there any real reason for people to take part in the '08 General Election?

Yes I will be voting in the '08 election even though a single EC vote won't go for Libertarian.

Only if you're fortunate enough to live in a battleground state. For instance, I live in Connecticut so my vote doesn't matter. *nod*

Only if you're fortunate enough to live in a battleground state. For instance, I live in Connecticut so my vote doesn't matter. *nod*

I don't live in a Battleground state. I think North Carolina has always gone Republican.

The electoral college rarely goes astray of the popular vote, they aren't willy nilly-their votes are determined by the results of who they are cast to represent, so you haven't painted an accurate picture of what happens.

You vote, even for your Libertarians because getting a percentage of the vote creates watersheds like eligibility for funds, etc. That was the initial theory of running Ralph Nader as a Green party candidate, to use the name recognition to get the Green party enough votes to hit that watershed. He was supposed to pull out if the voting was close among the 'big two' candidates.

You can't build your party by sitting at home on the internet whining about how you can't build your party.

If there's anything the 2000 election has taught me, is that the Popular vote can go one way, but the Electoral College and always go in the complete opposite direction. So, one has to ask themselves, with the Electoral College apparently deciding who actually gets the Presidency is there any real reason for people to take part in the '08 General Election?

Yes I will be voting in the '08 election even though a single EC vote won't go for Libertarian.No, and that's while I'll likely be voting for Nader anyway. If I'm throwing my vote away, I might as well do it for a candidate that I like.

In almost all elections, popular and electoral votes go the same way. 2000 was just one in a handful of elections where the popular and electoral votes went different ways.

some useless and slightly off-topic knowledge: Goerge Washington was the only president with a unanimous electoral vote. It's a lot harder to achieve that today. Back then, there were only 13 states. Now, there are fifty.

Elections everywhere are a waste of time, not just in the U.S. Even if where you live is hotly contested between parties, your individual vote is very unlikely to swing the decision. Looking at it rationally, its surprising anyone bothers

Voting is a waste of time and only legitimizes the farcicial "election." Why bother?

Why do we even have the Electoral College? We should "disband" it.......

some useless and slightly off-topic knowledge: Goerge Washington was the only president with a unanimous electoral vote. It's a lot harder to achieve that today. Back then, there were only 13 states. Now, there are fifty.
I've read (somewhere) that there was one later election in which a particular candidate "should" have received a unanimous electoral vote, but that one member of the college then deliberately voted for somebody else instead specifically to preserve Washington's unique status in this respect.

If there's anything the 2000 election has taught me, is that the Popular vote can go one way, but the Electoral College and always go in the complete opposite direction. So, one has to ask themselves, with the Electoral College apparently deciding who actually gets the Presidency is there any real reason for people to take part in the '08 General Election?

Yes I will be voting in the '08 election even though a single EC vote won't go for Libertarian.

It's very rare for the Electoral College choose someone who wasn't selected in the popular vote... in fact, it's only happened twice. Voting is useful, because while the candidate you want may not be selected (or even has a chance, among libertarians), it helps indicate your opinion to the major political parties. For example, if the republicans notice that while only a few people are voting libertarian, but that number is growing from year to year, they might start tailoring their party lines to better include libertarians.

The Electoral system may be stupid, but at least you can always move to Iowa.