>Kingsparta and others of the same ilk, with all due respect, your opinions don't matter and don't count, but oh yeah, it's America, you're allowed to have one and voice it. Democracy is a participatory form of government. As a citizen (or so you proclaim), it is your duty to participate (vote). If you don't, you get what you deserve and you don't have a say in it. Too bad.
If you want to change the way things work, you have to get involved. You complain how awful everything is, but what have you done to change anything? Even just in your own community? Ever help out at a soup kitchen or deliver meals for seniors who can't get around? Help kids and adults learn to read? There are plenty of things a person can do in their own community. Yeah, you might have to spend a couple of hours less on your computer a week, (I guess that would be too much of a hardship). And you call yourselves Americans!
A lot of American citizens have died so you could voice your opinions and have the freedoms you have, the least the rest of us can do is take 1/2 an hour and go down to your local voter registration office and register to vote. And then exercise that right.
>The idea behind the electoral college is to equalize the playing field for all the states. If the election were decided purely by the popular vote then only the most populous states would matter in an election and the rest would be ignored, (mob rule). With the electoral college system, all states matter. A candidate has to win more than just the big states, they must also win a lot of the smaller states in order to reach that magic number of 270 points.
Sorry about the rant, but this subject really gets me going, especially today.