Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site elsie.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!seismo!umcp-cs!cvl!elsie!mark From: mark@elsie.UUCP (Mark J. Miller) Newsgroups: net.legal Subject: Re: Electoral college Message-ID: <4099@elsie.UUCP> Date: Tue, 11-Dec-84 07:08:42 EST Article-I.D.: elsie.4099 Posted: Tue Dec 11 07:08:42 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 13-Dec-84 02:14:42 EST References: <204@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA> Organization: NIH-LEC, Bethesda, MD Lines: 19 > I was taught that the Electoral College was originally created because: > -1- it would have taken too long to gather up the popular vote > -2- the founding fathers didn't really trust the people to make an > intelligent choice. > (Perhaps the founding fathers were right?!) The major argument that remains for the Electoral College is to prevent one region of the country from forcing a popular regional candidate on the rest of the nation. In 1976, for example, Jimmy Carter ran as the first Southerner to get a major party nomination since the Civil War and won the South by an overwhelming margin. His EC vote was very close, however. -- Mark J. Miller NIH/NCI/DCE/LEC UUCP: decvax!harpo!seismo!elsie!mark Phone: (301) 496-5688