Electoral College

On December 19, the Electoral College will prove its obsolescence.

Some argue that the Electoral College lost its purpose about 10 years after its institution. Others have argued that it remains and should remain as a safety measure.

Alexander Hamilton supported the College. In a blog post, law professor Bruce Hay summarizes Hamilton's view:

They would make sure “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications,” turning away anyone whose only qualifications were “talents for low intrigue” or “the little arts of popularity.”

They would also keep out the stooges of hostile governments, being the best “practicable obstacle” to “the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils” by “raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the Union.”

Hays summarizes the reason for the institution of the Electoral College:

The framers rejected direct popular election of presidents, fearing that it would attract demagogues. They also refused to let other governmental bodies or officials choose the president, fearing that it would invite corruption and foreign interference. And so they erected a buffer institution, strikingly similar to a jury: a body of citizens assembled for the occasion, called upon to exercise their independent judgment, composed as a bulwark against demagoguery, official intrigue, and foreign meddling.

If ever in US politics there was a reason for the electoral college to be a bulwark against demagoguery, it is this year. But the electoral college will not exercise this responsibility—and will prove it has no purpose.

There is something we can do about it, not for this election but future ones. It's called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a bipartisan effort to guarantee the presidency to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. This leaves the College in place in case an elected candidate dies, and it avoids the need for a Constitutional amendment. It ensures that candidates direct their campaign to all Americans, and it prevents special treatment for battleground states. The effort has close to 2/3 of the votes it needs to convert the Electoral College to an institution that serves us all. Let's add more states to the compact.

Write your legislators. Or help organize a state referendum. Or both.

Action

So, now what?

I for one have never been so motivated. So what should we do? I don't know, frankly, but I've got some ideas. What are yours?

I had a discussion with a college student friend who said posting comments on Facebook wasn't effective. He aims to start working at an immigrant center. Bravo!

At work we would call this a time to brainstorm. There are no bad ideas at this stage. Everything is a possibility. Later we can look at our options and pick the ones that seem most likely to have an effect.

Here's my list of things we can try.

Admit ignorance. We have been outfoxed. It will happen again. We obviously aren't experts at this game. So change the game. Ask questions. Demand explanations with substance. Steve Bannon, Trump's propaganda vizier, likes to brag he's smarter than most. He is. All we've got is truth. Let's use that.

Protest nonviolently. Every bit of violence in protest against Trump will be amplified by Bannon while he ignores or justifies violence that serves him. Don't give him ammunition, tempting as it is. Protest something specific. Protesting Bannon is a good place to start. Let's expose him for what he is. Make him a bigger liability to Trump than he is an asset.

Engage those you know who voted for Trump. A lot of us would just as soon avoid family gatherings or get-togethers with some of our old friends. Give yourself time, but then engage. Try to understand where they are coming from and ask questions. Why do you feel this way? What made you like Trump over Clinton? What on God's green earth were you thinking!? OK, not this last one in this way. But let them know how disillusioned you are with a moral platform that endorses this paragon of immorality. Let them know why you are happy to walk away from it.

Support justice and truth. Contribute to SPLC, or the justice organization of your choice.

Join and challenge Democrats. The party is smarting and rethinking. Let's be part of the redefining. They can and should expand their platform to better include exvangelicals. If your political bent won't permit you to join the Democratic Party, start a new one. Truth and Justice Party.

Love your neighbor. I'm a privileged white male. If I'm not looking out for those who really have something to lose from this national choice, I'm not doing my job. Stand with those who so legitimately feel threatened. (And tell me how to do that better.)

Demand an accounting. Speak out against the hypocrisy of white evangelical leaders. If Matthew 23 wasn't written for them, let them explain why not.

Listen to other prophets. White male evangelical leaders have failed us. Listen to other voices: women and minorities. These are some who inspire me: Rachel Held Evans, Brandi Miller, Nadia Boltz-Weber, Yolanda Pierce. Who am I missing? Let me know. Quit listening to people like me and listen to people like them.

Reaction

I owe my family and friends an explanation for my reaction to the election. I have been angry. I haven't been able to sleep. Typically a bit dozey at work in the early afternoons, I've been wide awake. Adrenalin is quite the upper.

Unlike a lot of people I know, I always thought Trump could win. Early in the primaries, I had supper with a couple of German colleagues who asked if Trump could possibly be elected. I banged my head on the table and said yes. Unfortunately, yes.

I followed polls and always thought Trump's chances were much higher than they ought to be. But I also thought that in the end Hillary would prevail. I believed we wouldn't fall for the flim-flam. Trump's lies and behavior were so outrageous, that surely a reasonable America would reject him and all he stood for. But we didn't. We aren't reasonable.

We will always have an element in America that openly loves to hate. I don't really blame them. I don't think their voices will be all that loud for all that long. They'll get just loud enough that there will be a strong reaction, a blaming of Trump, and then he'll step in and clamp down on them proving his detractors wrong and assuring the rest that he's really not that way. (Big man manipulation tactics 101.)

Trump's appeal to the disenfranchised is clear. It was to be expected. And I get that the middle class resents paying extra for the lower class. (Never mind that the richest pay a far lower percentage. That's why they are called the privileged class.)

And I don't anticipate Armageddon. The slow steady growth of our economy over the past seven years is just what we needed. No flair, no bubbles, just easy she goes and a solid foundation. Trump may even be able to get some decent policies enacted. I don't expect much from the playground bully in the principal's office, but there's always the teachers and the school secretary.

I am not cutting off my relationships with family and friends. Many of you are Republicans whom I respect and admire. We don't always agree, but we disagree for the right reason: we want what is best. Some of you could not bring yourselves to vote for Trump in spite of being Republicans (thank you). Some of you didn't think all that much about it. Some of you said, well my pastor and Franklin Graham and James Dobson and Jerry Falwell and Ben Carson told me to vote for him.

And this is where I get really pissed. My anger is at the white evangelical church. More specifically, at their leaders who said Donald Trump was their man and God's man. 

This church has said that a pathological liar and an unrepentant racist is what is good for this country. They believe a leech who brags about not paying his share will bring fiscal responsibility. A man who would sleep with their wives and grab their daughters crotches (provided they were pretty enough) and boast about it afterwards should represent us to the world.

Truly they have their reward.

Some have tried to weasel out of it by saying they weren't voting for that. But they did vote for that. They told us to vote for that. The world was watching, and the church said this despicable, hateful man is our man. He is who we want. The church, after being willing to impose their version of morality on others, has said this is our morality. Give us Barabbas. 

My whole life I've defended the church. I've given evangelicals a pass on their close mindedness. I don't think I can or ever will again. I was part of the problem by letting the church get away without living the Gospel. So I'm angry at myself as well. But I will never again count myself among evangelicals.

And I strongly advise white evangelicals not to make any moral pronouncements within earshot.

I could go on. But it has been said better by Brandi Miller, who by gender and race is more qualified than I am. What more can we say?