Quote
Originally posted by: billryan
Had Hillary won the electoral college but Trump won the popular vote, do you think trumps supporters would not have protested?
Seeing how one former Congressman said he would take his musketeers and march on Washington , I don't think they would have behaved any better than what's going on now.
It's not like I expect most of you to a answer honestly, but go right ahead.
Part I
DonDiego cannot speak for "Trump supporters"; DonDiego would not have protested.
To the best of his recollection DonDiego has only ever participated in a protest demonstration one time, . . . when the university which he was attending announced a tuition increase. Several hundred participants participated in a night march to the residence of the University President who came out and addressed the crowd. No rocks were thrown, no fires were set, no injuries were sustained.
Not knowing exactly what to do next, the crowd leaders commenced a march to the women's dormitory and a somewhat awkward panty raid. The learning institution which DonDiego was attending was overwhelmingly male; the few females matriculating there were noted more for their academic achievements than their beauty or vivacity. So as the crowd assembled next to the 10-or-12 story dormitory ladies' underthings began flying out of the windows onto the raucous crowd below. DonDiego thought this was not the normal expectation for a panty raid; he never investigated further to confirm this perception.
After one of the males in the crowd climbed 4 or 5 stories until a female resident opened a window to him and so he entered the building the crowd applauded wildly. After that the members of the demonstration had no idea what to do, . . . so the crowd broke up and everybody went back to their dormitories.
Still no rocks were thrown, no fires were set, no injuries were sustained. A few dainty underthings did flutter through the air.
The tuition rise took place exactly as announced.
Part II
Why the Electoral College Exists offers an excellent brief explanation of the reason(s) the Electoral College exists and why it is likely to persist.
The article includes a reference to the idea that a big reason for the Electoral College was to placate the Slave States which would otherwise have been under-represented; DonDiego leaves investigation of this to the interested reader, if any. (This Time Magazine article might be a good place to start.)
In any case nowadays: "The idea is that doing it this way people living in smaller, often more rural states, would get their voices heard too. If the U.S. had elections based on popular votes alone, the candidates would focus most of their attention on areas with large populations. Would it be fair that policies benefitting California or New York, where a big chunk of Americans lives, should be the main ones enacted, at the expense of policies that would focus, let’s say, on the Rust Belt states, who were key in deciding the current election?"
As DonDiego is unlikely to take up residence in a major metropolis, he sorta likes the Electoral College. He'd prefer it remain, . . . but if the Constitution were amended to eliminate it he'd still likely i. not protest, and ii. not leave the country.
