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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 1240 Views
I have never understood the point of the Electoral College. - 29/02/2012 11:39:11 PM 688 Views
You don't think like a politician then - 01/03/2012 12:38:36 AM 730 Views
I also have not seen most of that mentioned in the popular vs. electoral debate. - 01/03/2012 02:34:31 PM 615 Views
what about one vote one value? - 02/03/2012 11:51:32 PM 698 Views
That has not really changed. - 03/03/2012 03:30:34 AM 881 Views
a bit simplistic and unrealistic - 02/03/2012 11:44:02 PM 658 Views
When illustrating a point realism is not required and simplicity is a plus - 03/03/2012 03:04:26 AM 672 Views
I have a couple quibbles. - 03/03/2012 05:23:46 AM 699 Views
Oh, certainly, I'm over-generalizing but I was already getting long-winded - 03/03/2012 06:52:04 AM 662 Views
I hate when people do that. - 05/03/2012 09:49:36 AM 641 Views
What a bunch of waffle! - 03/03/2012 10:47:19 AM 799 Views
First you complain of simplicity then of my lack of brevity? - 03/03/2012 11:18:11 AM 593 Views
A simplistic argument doesn't mean it's brief *NM* - 03/03/2012 09:55:51 PM 328 Views
Also I don't like this refrain that implies only the POTUS vote matters - 03/03/2012 03:29:58 AM 817 Views
IMHO, parliaments choosing prime ministers is LESS democratic than the electoral college. - 03/03/2012 05:57:41 AM 619 Views
Re: IMHO, parliaments choosing prime ministers is LESS democratic than the electoral college. - 03/03/2012 07:02:30 AM 656 Views
*is learning* - 04/03/2012 09:49:42 PM 647 Views
Re: *is learning* - 04/03/2012 09:56:16 PM 661 Views
To the extent I can (yet again) claim to speak for Europeans... - 04/03/2012 10:33:01 PM 637 Views
I've fairly limited exposure and that from some years back - 04/03/2012 11:35:12 PM 697 Views
Re: *is learning* - 05/03/2012 12:08:08 AM 699 Views
You could imitate the French. - 07/03/2012 10:40:16 PM 628 Views
That seems... unlikely.... - 08/03/2012 03:03:54 PM 635 Views
I don't know much about Norwegian politics, but you seem to be wrong. - 03/03/2012 06:18:08 PM 668 Views
Do you happen to have that link, please? - 03/03/2012 06:46:31 PM 550 Views
Sure. - 03/03/2012 06:58:07 PM 722 Views
Guess we did not read far enough. - 03/03/2012 10:38:07 PM 668 Views
Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 03/03/2012 11:49:44 PM 870 Views
Re: Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 05/03/2012 06:56:24 AM 672 Views
Fascinating. - 05/03/2012 10:52:32 PM 651 Views
Re: Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 08/03/2012 07:11:12 PM 621 Views
Many valid reasons, including those Isaac cited. - 02/03/2012 02:26:37 AM 768 Views
Most states are ignored anyway - 02/03/2012 11:56:12 PM 845 Views
Why would we do something logical? Dude, you're utterly ridiculous. *NM* - 05/03/2012 04:53:38 PM 365 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 613 Views
Nothing has shut him up yet, why should this? *NM* - 01/03/2012 05:27:30 PM 348 Views
Maybe he'll pull a Palin and go touring around the country *NM* - 01/03/2012 07:06:02 PM 317 Views
No, it probably means we will get more and worse than ever. - 01/03/2012 11:25:25 PM 787 Views
Romney or Obama, either way, America loses. *NM* - 02/03/2012 01:10:26 AM 438 Views
Hard to dispute that either; six of one, half a dozen of the other. - 02/03/2012 01:38:07 AM 590 Views
Couldn't agree more *NM* - 02/03/2012 06:52:51 PM 357 Views
It reminds me of when Denver backed into the NFL playoffs. - 02/03/2012 09:36:13 PM 576 Views
I'd agree hope and change was extremely unrealistic - 02/03/2012 11:58:57 PM 586 Views
Romney is damaged - 02/03/2012 11:27:33 PM 602 Views
Obama is rather damaged also; it will probably come down to FL and OH, yet again. - 03/03/2012 02:23:53 AM 705 Views
I'm hoping for Rubio as VP... then FL probably won't matter - 03/03/2012 04:28:08 AM 592 Views
You should put that on your license plates. - 03/03/2012 06:41:34 AM 716 Views
Re: You should put that on your license plates. - 03/03/2012 06:51:00 AM 658 Views
Ax murderers are people, too! - 04/03/2012 08:23:41 PM 614 Views
And what are you basing all of this on? - 03/03/2012 09:54:06 PM 704 Views
The closeness of several states when Obama was far more popular, and UTs heavily Mormon neighbors. - 03/03/2012 11:44:06 PM 651 Views
Wrong - 04/03/2012 08:08:56 AM 777 Views
Higher turnout magnifies the Mormon effect. - 04/03/2012 08:08:09 PM 813 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 722 Views
Yeah, I think we had that conversation already, several times, in fact. - 07/03/2012 05:36:45 AM 556 Views
Do you have any knowledge of statistics at all? - 07/03/2012 09:04:15 PM 717 Views
I hate this message board - 07/03/2012 09:06:30 PM 511 Views
Some, though it is far from exhaustive. - 08/03/2012 02:29:06 PM 695 Views

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