Once again The Cheddar Box makes some excellent points in his response to my response to his blog entry, which generated responses from Boston Progressive Radio and Youth Outlook, who started this conversation in the first place. I have to say. This blog-a-thon thing is a darn good time :)

Cheddar Box says: Okay, so Donna didn’t agree with me, which is perfectly fine. But daaamn, girl, can we have a little faith in the intelligence of the people? The electoral college was never meant to be a safeguard against the “stupidity of the masses.” It was put in place to give small states power because they feared that big states would have all the influence in the political process if there wasn’t some power check against them. The thing is, that was like hundreds of years ago, and I don’t think that small states have that same overwhelming fear today. Thus, the electoral college is largely irrelevant in terms of its original purpose. Instead, today it essentially acts as a way for the elites in our society to overturn the will of the people.

What Cheddar Box is saying is true. But, I think my understanding of the the purpose of the EC is true as well (according to my Google research). The original framers of the U.S. Constitution believed leaving it up to the people to select a present was "too reckless," but they didn't want Congress to have the power either, so they came up with the EC and its electors, which are supposed to be voted in by voters.

Although I have faith in people as intelligent individuals, I think people are also quick to buy into an image. C'mon, we all worry about what people think, if even just a little bit. Not to discredit Obama, but he certainly is the new "cool." He's got the hippest celebrities endorsing him, not to mention the Obama Girl videos. Some might overlook what he stands for and just vote on him because the cool kids are rocking votes for him. But this is an argument for "stupidity of the masses," not necessarily for the EC.

Because Cheddar (can I call you Cheddar, or is it Mr. Box?), you made a good point about how the EC consists of the elite these days. I think it's true. Electors are chosen because of their devotion to the party and how active they are and I think that translates to whoever has the leisure to get very high up in the party. That's probably why our votes don't seem to count anymore.

As for making election day a national holiday, I think its an interesting idea:

Election day in the US could be a national holiday where everyone could get a day off of work/school and would be required to do their civic duty and vote. If voting became more of a societal norm, a common sense accepted act that was in everyone’s general consciousness, there might be more political discussion amongst the everyday common people in this country, much like in other countries.

As I said in my last blog entry, a mandatory election shouldn't be written off completely. It could eventually get people interested and devoted enough to research the facts and make good choices. But, that probably means we'll have to suffer with some bad choices for a few years. Then again, I guess we've done that enough already.