There have been a number of discussions about eliminating the Electoral College in electing the president in favor of a one-person, one-vote method of bringing an individual to the presidency.
While on a quick read, this seems fair and imminently obvious as the best method, it is fraught with dire consequences for our democratic republic.
Our Founding Fathers crafted the Electoral College as a way to avoid, going back to the Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, what is referred to as “the tyranny of the majority.”
It was designed to even out the extraordinary power of a few single cities and states to control all of the laws crafted by the United States federal government and then “put upon” the smaller states and cities that have other differing interests and needs from these heavily populated areas of the U.S. Our Founding Fathers crafted the Electoral College in the late 1700s so as to balance the interests and opinions of the two groups, usually rural vs. urban, west vs. east or north vs. south. This construct was also designed so that the smaller states would be willing to sign on to the Constitution and have some hope of a voice in public affairs.
So in the enthusiasm for a popular vote, consider if you would really like New York and California to rule your life in middle America. Do they have the same values and needs that you do?