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To the extent I can (yet again) claim to speak for Europeans... Legolas Send a noteboard - 04/03/2012 10:33:01 PM
Criticizing American politics is a planetary pastime particularly popular in Europe. I don't think it would really matter if they had legitimate grounds or not. Mostly, for us, it comes down to not wanting a single person with a lot of power in charge and not in a position to grab more, no kings, if POTUS or his foreign equivalent is the only person elected by the entire country in a totally popular vote it's very hard to resist slow power grabs, alternatively one elected by the legislature really can't grab power but my also be fairly useless as a check on them. I like our reasonably balanced method of doing that, not perfect but what is?

It definitely is, but the electoral college really isn't the main point of criticism. People here are far more bothered by the insane and increasingly insane sums required to win elections, particularly now that McCain-Feingold was undermined (okay, I'll grant you, not too many people know what McCain-Feingold is...). The impression people here get, more than anything else, is your presidency almost seems to be for sale - obviously that's a crude over-generalization, but then I'm not talking about my own opinion, but the impressions I get of the general opinion here. The other thing, of course, is the extreme polarization of American politics, thanks to your two party system and 24 hour news cycle - politics have gotten increasingly dirty and "gotcha" everywhere, but in a multiple party system, yesterday's enemy can be tomorrow's ally, so you generally don't want to do too much demonizing that you can't easily retract.

Electoral college isn't exactly something anyone but election geeks care about in Europe, except perhaps in the rare cases of candidates losing the election while winning the popular vote, like Gore in 2000.
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Now That Romney Is Officially the Republican Presidential Nominee: Pick the President! - 29/02/2012 08:29:02 PM 1261 Views
I have never understood the point of the Electoral College. - 29/02/2012 11:39:11 PM 703 Views
You don't think like a politician then - 01/03/2012 12:38:36 AM 745 Views
I also have not seen most of that mentioned in the popular vs. electoral debate. - 01/03/2012 02:34:31 PM 630 Views
what about one vote one value? - 02/03/2012 11:51:32 PM 715 Views
That has not really changed. - 03/03/2012 03:30:34 AM 899 Views
a bit simplistic and unrealistic - 02/03/2012 11:44:02 PM 672 Views
When illustrating a point realism is not required and simplicity is a plus - 03/03/2012 03:04:26 AM 689 Views
I have a couple quibbles. - 03/03/2012 05:23:46 AM 717 Views
Oh, certainly, I'm over-generalizing but I was already getting long-winded - 03/03/2012 06:52:04 AM 677 Views
I hate when people do that. - 05/03/2012 09:49:36 AM 659 Views
What a bunch of waffle! - 03/03/2012 10:47:19 AM 821 Views
First you complain of simplicity then of my lack of brevity? - 03/03/2012 11:18:11 AM 607 Views
A simplistic argument doesn't mean it's brief *NM* - 03/03/2012 09:55:51 PM 337 Views
Also I don't like this refrain that implies only the POTUS vote matters - 03/03/2012 03:29:58 AM 833 Views
IMHO, parliaments choosing prime ministers is LESS democratic than the electoral college. - 03/03/2012 05:57:41 AM 633 Views
Re: IMHO, parliaments choosing prime ministers is LESS democratic than the electoral college. - 03/03/2012 07:02:30 AM 671 Views
*is learning* - 04/03/2012 09:49:42 PM 662 Views
Re: *is learning* - 04/03/2012 09:56:16 PM 676 Views
To the extent I can (yet again) claim to speak for Europeans... - 04/03/2012 10:33:01 PM 652 Views
I've fairly limited exposure and that from some years back - 04/03/2012 11:35:12 PM 712 Views
Re: *is learning* - 05/03/2012 12:08:08 AM 716 Views
You could imitate the French. - 07/03/2012 10:40:16 PM 649 Views
That seems... unlikely.... - 08/03/2012 03:03:54 PM 650 Views
I don't know much about Norwegian politics, but you seem to be wrong. - 03/03/2012 06:18:08 PM 690 Views
Do you happen to have that link, please? - 03/03/2012 06:46:31 PM 566 Views
Sure. - 03/03/2012 06:58:07 PM 740 Views
Guess we did not read far enough. - 03/03/2012 10:38:07 PM 683 Views
Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 03/03/2012 11:49:44 PM 887 Views
Re: Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 05/03/2012 06:56:24 AM 684 Views
Fascinating. - 05/03/2012 10:52:32 PM 668 Views
Re: Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 08/03/2012 07:11:12 PM 635 Views
Many valid reasons, including those Isaac cited. - 02/03/2012 02:26:37 AM 784 Views
Most states are ignored anyway - 02/03/2012 11:56:12 PM 860 Views
Why would we do something logical? Dude, you're utterly ridiculous. *NM* - 05/03/2012 04:53:38 PM 373 Views
I'm kind of sad- does this mean Santorum won't be providing wonderful sound bites anymore? - 01/03/2012 02:22:31 PM 624 Views
Nothing has shut him up yet, why should this? *NM* - 01/03/2012 05:27:30 PM 355 Views
Maybe he'll pull a Palin and go touring around the country *NM* - 01/03/2012 07:06:02 PM 324 Views
No, it probably means we will get more and worse than ever. - 01/03/2012 11:25:25 PM 804 Views
Romney or Obama, either way, America loses. *NM* - 02/03/2012 01:10:26 AM 449 Views
Hard to dispute that either; six of one, half a dozen of the other. - 02/03/2012 01:38:07 AM 605 Views
Couldn't agree more *NM* - 02/03/2012 06:52:51 PM 363 Views
It reminds me of when Denver backed into the NFL playoffs. - 02/03/2012 09:36:13 PM 599 Views
I'd agree hope and change was extremely unrealistic - 02/03/2012 11:58:57 PM 603 Views
Romney is damaged - 02/03/2012 11:27:33 PM 619 Views
Obama is rather damaged also; it will probably come down to FL and OH, yet again. - 03/03/2012 02:23:53 AM 724 Views
I'm hoping for Rubio as VP... then FL probably won't matter - 03/03/2012 04:28:08 AM 606 Views
You should put that on your license plates. - 03/03/2012 06:41:34 AM 728 Views
Re: You should put that on your license plates. - 03/03/2012 06:51:00 AM 677 Views
Ax murderers are people, too! - 04/03/2012 08:23:41 PM 629 Views
And what are you basing all of this on? - 03/03/2012 09:54:06 PM 719 Views
The closeness of several states when Obama was far more popular, and UTs heavily Mormon neighbors. - 03/03/2012 11:44:06 PM 674 Views
Wrong - 04/03/2012 08:08:56 AM 790 Views
Higher turnout magnifies the Mormon effect. - 04/03/2012 08:08:09 PM 829 Views
Your reasoning is flawed and if you can't see it there is no hope for you - 05/03/2012 11:39:04 PM 735 Views
Yeah, I think we had that conversation already, several times, in fact. - 07/03/2012 05:36:45 AM 572 Views
Do you have any knowledge of statistics at all? - 07/03/2012 09:04:15 PM 735 Views
I hate this message board - 07/03/2012 09:06:30 PM 530 Views
Some, though it is far from exhaustive. - 08/03/2012 02:29:06 PM 712 Views

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