Repubs don't want a revolution in Verginia

Puggs were pretty inventive -- on their golf and whoring regroup getaway.

Why is there no groundswell of support for ending the Electoral College entirely and going strictly to popular vote nationally to decide elections. The electoral college is an antidemocratic institution put in place by the founding fathers, who thought the general public might be too stupid to directly elect the president, so there needed to be a middle man. End it!

The Electoral is an anachronism and anti-democratic. Since getting a constitutional amendment passed eliminating it in favor of a straight popular vote is not seemingly possible, how about an amendment changing the electoral college to proportionate voting for any candidate receiving over 40% of that state's votes? Not perfect, but definitely an improvement. One point in favor is that the candidates would not "blow off" states that they were sure to carry and thus campaign only in the 10 or so "swing state".

Please let's hold off on the victory dance unless and until the veto signature -- in non-disappearing and non-erasable ink -- is dry. Please remember that when protests to the original ultrasound-probing bill gathered force, McDonnell expressed dislike for a bit, but then a bit later signed a bill that was equally dilatory but allowed the option of external sonography. All sorts of crafting and craftiness can still happen on this latest attempt.

Every Republican will say they oppose it, up until the minute they vote for it.

I just want to go on record and be among the first to congratulate Pee-Wee Herman for becoming the new Chairman of the Republican National Commit... Huh? He's WHAT?... But he looks just like him!!... Sorry folks, got my signals crossed here. Apparently Pee-Wee didn't win after all, just some wannabe look-alike with a funnier name.

The electoral college already effectively gives Republicans the kind of advantage they are seeking in the Virginia bill. By giving an electoral college vote per state as well as based on population, the EC overweights states with small populations, which, like the low-population congressional districts of Va., tend to vote Republican.

I won't believe anything Gov. UltraSound says... Let him officially veto it and then I MIGHT believe him...

Veto it Gov Va-jayjay!

American's lets keep an eye on this issue. He may change his mind when he thinks that nobody is watching. The Republican Party needs to stop trying to still an election. They need to move along with time. There ideas is not best for America.

i was ready to vote for Romney, but the more i listened closely to him and others in the republican party, i changed my mind. Until they move into this decade they will not get my vote. Women are people, a lot of them work a lot harder than a man but do not get equal pay. Been there, seen that. Spent over 35 years working in a manufacturing setting with last 12 in shipping and recieving, i did majority of the paperwork, picked & packed, loaded & unloaded semis, UPS, Fed-Ex, occasionally on my way home i would drop off last minute packages_no compensation. come to find out co-worker (guy) made $3. hr more and was paid for gas mileage for dropping off pkgs. when i went to my supervisor, was told i was not being a "team" player.

The Electoral College should be eliminated completely. At least the 'winner take all' deal should go. I don't think it will be as much a help to the GOP as they might think, after all, if it was gone during Bush/Gore we wouldn't have suffered Dumbaya's second term. The popular vote should choose our president. With today's communications and information we no longer need the EC. I live in NY and it is very frustrating to see all NY's votes go blue when just under half of the people voted the other way.

Instead of the nutty plan the GOP is trying to shove down states, why don't we just do away with the electoral college, and elect the president on strictly popular vote??

Friends, all congressional districts in a state have virtually the same population (see Supreme Court Reynolds v. Sims 1964).

Furthermore, gerrymandering that dilutes the minority vote (e.g. packing minorities into a district to minimize their electoral power, dividing up minorities across districts so that they cannot elect a preferred candidate, etc.) is against the Voting Rights Act.

HOWEVER, you can produce politically -- dems or reps -- gerrymandered districts which is typically done by the party in power at the state level...in most states.

The Electoral College should GO, on the national level. The states that use the 'winner take all' method are robbing many citizens of their vote! It can go either way, D or R. It's time the people's vote elects the president!

Sadly, most of the posters here do not understand how the Electoral College works and/or don't understand why it exists.

For a lucid post, look at StP13's.

Please, before you post, read some history. It will do you good!

He's against it because he's becoming a pragmatist.... None of the following helps the GOP in the LONG RUN.

Winning by changing the rules

Winning without winning the popular vote in the state.

Virginia is steadily becoming more and more diverse...eventually democrats will win more districts.

So, he's taking the rational path -- realizing that the GOP will have to win the good ol' fashioned way -- win the hearts and minds of a majority of voters across the state, and with more than just a narrow demographic. Any attempt to rig the system so ones party can win without winning, is just not a good long term strategy.

Some things never change.

In a couple of weeks, the future of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act will argued before the Supreme Court (Shelby County AL v. Holder). Section 5 requires states with a history of disenfranchising blacks to submit all election changes to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for approval or submit the change to a three judge federal court in DC. Why was Section 5 enacted? Because every time the federal government won a voting rights case in the South under Section 2, the jurisdiction would just change the rules so that Blacks still couldn't vote/elect a candidate of choice.

That same corrupt culture now represented by the modern GOP, seeks to enact voter id laws that make it harder for people to vote, place limitations on ballot access (e.g. targeted absentee voting rules, insufficient provision of voting services so that people wait forever to vote), change the way states allocate electoral college votes, and eliminate Section 5 so that they can play their stupid games at will.

Either do away with the Electorial College or bring it in line with the Vote. Having half the votes going to either the democratic or republican party and then giving them to just one party is not democracy.

There is no need for the Electoral College today. It makes the national popular vote irrelevant, encourages political campaigners to focus on a few so-called "swing states" while ignoring the rest of the country, discourages turnout and participation, and it disadvantage third parties.

With today's instant communication, we should have a true 'one person one vote' system. The Electoral College denies us that.

Most of you don't even know much about the history of the electoral college or why it was started.

It is an archaic system put in place YEARS ago when people could not leave rural areas and farms to go vote.

So each state chose and "elector" to carry their vote for them.

There is no need for this now.

Over the years it evolved into a balance system that has failed miserably time and time again.

Your presidential vote DOES NOT COUNT as long as the electoral is in place.

VOTE OUT THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE, VOTE IN A PRESIDENT.

One the PEOPLE want.

feasty, you won't live long enough to LYAO. It's too big!

I like it when even the Republicans is coming out and calling themselves "the Party of Stupid" for that is exactly what it is !! That was the Quote from this evening news and came from a republican.

We need to have Electoral College reform. First, we have four candidates who won the popular vote and lost the election. With the winner take all policy, means that in essence my vote doesn't really count. It was clear from this last election, that there were three or four states where an individual vote made a difference. The swing states are where the candidates spent their time.

I live in New York City - the only time the candidates came to NY was to do fundraisers. It's also clear that each considered the state a blue one, so neither bothered to spend time and money here.