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One of Georgias 16 presidential electors cast her Electoral College vote for Joe Biden but says, if she had it her way, the United States would do away with theconstitutional election process altogethera radical and dangerousposition.

I support abolishing the Electoral College, former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolardsaidduring a recent interview. I think all too often the popular vote has been overturned by the Electoral College and that doesnt seem right to me.

It may not seem right to Ms. Woolard, but the Electoral College purposefully forces would-be presidents tobuild nationwide coalitions, courting diverse voters across the country. Itshould remain in place. Otherwise, politicians would ignore the needs of people inflyover countryand focuseven moreonbig cities andthe coasts.

Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clintonwas another elector who, like Ms. Woolard,called for eliminatingthe Electoral Collegeeven as she cast one of New Yorks electoral votesfor Democrat President-elect Joe Biden.

I believe we should abolish the Electoral College and select our president by the winner of the popular vote, same as every other office, she said in atweet. But while it still exists, I was proud to cast my vote in New York for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Clinton is missing the fact that the presidency is not like other offices. Most major democratic nations use a two-step process (usually a parliamentary system) to elect their top executive. Our Electoral College, like those other systems, balancesthe interests of everyone acrossadiverse country while limitingthe power of big-cityelites.

Our system also limits the power of Washington, D.C.As Thomas S. Kidd,historyprofessor at Baylor University,says, 2020 has shown that the states still possess powerful checks on national executive power. Thats a good thing, and we should be exceedingly cautious about cutting the states out of the process of electing the president (i.e. the Electoral College).

Complaints about the Electoral Collegeoftenstem from Clintonslossin 2016. At various times, Clinton hasblamedformer FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), President Barack Obama,Russiaand, of course, the Electoral Collegefor her loss.

Really it wasClintonsowndecisionsthat cost her the presidency, and the Electoral College worked just right. By design, the Electoral College rewards candidates who do the hard work of winning over Americans in many states, not just winning huge margins in a few states or giant cities. The American Founders believed the president should be a national candidate, not a regional one.

In 1888, Grover Clevelandwon the popular vote but was blown out in the Electoral College because his support was concentrated in the South; he won huge margins there but lost almost everywhere else. Similarly, Clinton ran up huge margins in coastal states while failing to connect with middle America.

Clinton dismissed struggling voters asdeplorablesand lost their votes as a consequence. Marc Thiessen of The Washington Postargues,Clinton still cant seem to tell the difference between a white nationalist and working-class voters who are upset because their family incomes are stagnant or falling, they feel shut out of the labor force, and their communities are mired in substance abuse and despair. Theseforgotten Americanshad legitimate grievances that Democrats ignored.

The Clinton campaign also squandereditsmonetary advantageby failing to invest enough instates like Michigan and Pennsylvania.Accordingto one liberal activist, the candidates team was,very surgical and corporate. Their thing was,We dont have to leave [literature] at the doors, everyone knows who Hillary Clinton is.

Joe Biden corrected Clintons errors,cultivating a working man persona andinvesting heavilyin turning out the vote inkeystates.He received the Democratic nominationin partbecause primary votersbelievedhe wouldappeal to those forgotten Americans who Clinton had ignored and demeaned.

In both 2016 and 2020, the Electoral College worked as intended. Serious presidential candidates were forced to build diverse coalitions rather than relying on one region or demographic group. For close to 250 years, the Electoral College has fostered a healthy and vibrant electoral system, and we shouldnt throw that away because Hillary Clinton mismanaged her campaign.

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Opinion: What's the True Agenda Behind the Movement to Abolish the Electoral College? - Prescott eNews