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The Electoral College's time has come and gone. Voters today are more educated and more informed than they were even a mere 50 years ago, thanks to television, radio and untold amounts of newspapers and magazines. More importantly, the electoral college does away with the idea of one person one vote. in a true democracy, everyone should feel that their vote is counted equally. The electoral college does away with this feeling.

There have been many reasons why some think the electoral college has got to stay, mostly presented by the conservatives. The electoral college tends to give more weight to less populated areas, which tend to lean more to the "right". It also increases the amount of representation a state has by increasing the number of electoral college votes within that state by 2 (the number of congressmen plus 2 senators equals the total electoral votes). Lets take the reasons to keep the electoral vote one at a time (as taken from www.retakingamerica.com):

Excuse 1: ...the Founders rejected a government by a simple majority vote because it could be used as a tool for dictatorships and not a democracy.

Response 1: The more people that have their vote counted, the less chance of a "dictatorship". In a true democracy, everyone gets a chance to vote and everyone's vote counts. Dictatorships happen when one's vote is discounted, as is the case with an electoral college system.

Excuse 2: The creation of the Electoral College was to protect the smaller states...

Response 2: By strengthening the smaller states, you weaken the larger states, thus reducing the will of the majority of the population. There are many other countries that have open national elections without the encumbrance of an outdated electoral college system.

Excuse 3: The events in Florida in the 2000 election, would of caused us to recount the entire nation (without the electoral college).

Response 3: Florida's 2000 election year recount was mandated due to the mere 537 vote differential. If there was no electoral college, the 543,895 nation-wide vote differential would have called for no mandatory recount.

Excuse 4: Rumors of illegal road blocks, unclear ballots, and uncounted votes, particularly in swing states like Missouri and Florida, were rampant.

Response 4: Isn't it simpler for an illegal road block to make more of a difference when a smaller sample is counted disproportional to a larger one? If there were to be "shenanigans" performed on behalf of one candidate or another, it would have made little or no difference in a one person one vote truly national election.

Excuse 5: The 2000 election was plagued with allegations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement.

Response 5: A Republican voter in New York (traditionally democratic in national elections) or Texas (traditionally Republican in national elections) might not vote, thinking their vote doesn't matter because of the electoral college.

Excuse 6: If our nation had a popular vote. A candidate, could control the way people vote. By spending a lot of time and money in only the larger states. There by affecting the national election.

Response 6: A candidate for the presidency today spends too much time in swing states and no time at all in states he or she feels they have already won or lost. States like New Jersey and North Carolina, both possessing 15 electoral college votes are virtually ignored by candidates because they are being counted as Democratic and Republican. respectively, months before the election ever takes place. If there was no electoral college, candidates would feel a need to visit these states to try and vie for each and every vote.

Excuse 7: (The Founding Fathers) feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power.

Response 7: With the advent of creative television ads and an increase of agenda-oriented newsmagazines, it is easier than ever to manipulate the population with little effort. If we really want to eliminate manipulation, we need campaign finance reform.

Excuse 8: George W. Bush won more counties, counted by square mile, than Al Gore (78.2% to 21.7%).

Response 8: We are a country that guarantees one person one vote, not one square mile, one vote. Using this logic, land owners would be the ones to decide our nation's leaders (as once was the case).