Why do conservatives love the electoral college?

Question

I just asked a question why the US doesn't get rid of the electoral college and I got stupid answers from people I assume are conservatives because they were bashing democrats. They claim that NYC, LA, and chicago will decide the elections if we do it by popular vote. That is the stupidest thing I ever heard. If the 2004 election was decided by popular vote Bush would have won anyway because he got the majority of popular votes. So don't give me that c**p that five cities decide the election. And not all the states are monolithic votes. Many people in upstate New York vote republican just like many people in South Texas vote democratic. In fact people should want to get rid of the EC because that way NYC wouldn't have to decide the election for all of New York state. I think conservatives love the electoral college because it mostly goes in their favor. Remember the 2000 election? I'm not favoring democrats but I want each vote to count the same.

Answer 1

The facts are this: Most of the US population resides in our large metropolitan areas. 8 out of 10 of the largest cities are notoriously liberal strongholds, with Democrat-led governments. The Electoral College is the only way ALL of the people in ALL of the states can be fairly represented. Our population is not spread out equally amongst all the states. It's really very simple to understand.

Answer 2

They are essentially correct. The politicians would pander to the cities not states.

It is easy to figure out, Look at NY City a population of what 2 million? Now look at South Dakota with a population of ~ 750,000.

Now compound this by problem by only using major cities and you start to see the picture.

Where do you think the Candidates will spend the majority of their efforts? States or large cities?

Answer 3

It is about possibilities and probabilities. Is is possible that Gore would have or should have won the 2000 election, yes. But it is more probable that a few large states and cities will decide who the next president is more often. What you described is an exception to the rule. More often than not, that will not happen.  

Answer 4

The Founding Fathers put the Electoral College into place for a reason.  We are the United STATES, not the United Individuals.  States were supposed to be sovereign, hence the 10th Amendment, but activist justices misinterpreting the 14th Amendment bastardized that beyond all recognition.

If there were no Electoral College, no candidate would care about, much less visit, places like North Dakota and Vermont.

Answer 5

All intelligent Americans love the electoral college.

Without it, we would have majority tyranny.

Answer 6

Well, let us remember one thing from 2000: Tennessee.

Al Gore failed to carry his home state. If he took Tennessee, Florida would have been just an embarrassment.

What did Tennessee know that the rest of the nation didn't?

ALL presidental candidate love the electoral college, as you only need target about 12-15 key states, lose the popular vote but grab the electoral college votes and you're in office

Answer 7

It does not mostly favor the Reps. Only  twice in this countries entire history did the popular vote and electoral college not agree.

Its the way the USA is set up , why have individual states at all then? Why does every state get 2 senators? The USA is a collection of states in many ways what the EU is trying to become, different states with different ideas but under many "common" laws

Answer 8

This is or at least should not be an issue specific to conservatives. The key question is do you wish this country to be a true democracy run strictly by majority rule or not ? If you believe that the majority view on any issue should always have the force of government and law, then go ahead abolish the electoral college, and eliminate the Senate while you are at it. If you believe it should be extremely hard for the majority to impose its will through force of law on the minority  then we need to restore more of the checks and balances and empower those evil "special interests". Separately, it is not rural states that are empowered by the electoral college - but all states. Direct election of the President by popular vote would not confine the campaign to a handful of occasionally changing states, but a handful of never changing cities.  If you did not live in a few major population centers no candidate would give a d**n what mattered to you.

If you expect any given minority of americans - whether, blacks, the rich, the poor, rural, g*y, women, or .. to sacrifice for the good of the majority, you should need more than a simple majority. The complexities of our republic are designed to make it harder for the majority to tyrannize any minority.

Answer 9

Electoral college is set up by state.  Please try doing research before posting rants that make you look foolish.  Cities have an effect based on where they are located and how they can skew the states overall delegate count.  The point is you would only have to campaign in about 7 states to win the election and that was deemed by the founding fathers to be stupid.  So this system was set up.  Seems like they were rather insightful.

Answer 10

That's easy.  Rural areas tend to be conservative.  Cities tend to be liberal.  We rural republicans don't want the cities to make the decisions for us, and that is what would happen if the electoral college were done away with.

Candidates would campaign hard in New York, LA, Detroit.....all places where hardcore liberal values would be the vote getters.  Candidates would pander to that.

Anti-gun, inner-city midnight basketball programs, and a whole bunch of other things that us rural folk don't need would be the only thing candidates would care about......even republicans.  No one would ever care about ranching, mining, hunting, etc., because it would take too much time to fight for all of those votes and they probably wouldn't outnumber the big city votes.

EDIT:

Judging by your added comments, it looks like you weren't really looking for an answer, but had already made up your mind.  They may be campaigning in 7 states now, but they aren't always the same 7 states.  They would be if there were no electoral college.

I think there would be another civil war if the electoral college were abolished, because states that provide crops, minerals, and oil, many of which are conservative, wouldn't like having their resources taken and used by the big populated places.  Plus, the government would have no reason to properly support those workers and the states with tax dollars because their votes would not count for much without giant cities nearby.

I think the government would probably just take over the mines, dairy farms and agricultural companies if they resisted.  It would be a far different country.

Answer 11

Because Republicans are the party of the landed property tax. The father away from the city and the more land you own, and the more children you have, the more likely you are to vote Republican.

In the EC, states with smaller spread out populations which own more land has disproportionate representation. Thus the current electorial college system actually benefits Republicans greatly. Of course it is pretty telling that they would be against everyone getting an equal vote for president.

Answer 12

/ As I recall, Al Gore was crying because he felt he won the popular vote in Florida, but George Bush won the electorial college, and therefore the Supreme Court decided G. Bush won the Presidency.

For years, we had to hear Gore and the Democrats crying foul.

Recently, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in Florida, but the Democrat Delegate (much like the electorial college votes) votes didn't count.

Again, the Democrats whined, cried foul and questioned their own platform of delegates and super delegates.

So, in essence, it seems the Democrat Party is the one divided, crying foul, and struggling under a banner of "Unity" because they are clearly divided in disarray and un-united.

Answer 13

I think that's a constitutional issue - not a political issue.

Getting rid of the college would require an amendment to the constituion - not a bill passed by congress.

Perhaps - you might consider paying attention in High-School Civics.