At 2pm today, California’s Electoral College will meet in the Assembly chambers to cast their votes for president. Although this election didn’t turn out how Republicans had hoped, it’s still historic. The first African-American presidential nominee for a major political party and the first female on a Republican ticket made 2008 an intriguing political year. Today’s meeting of the California Electoral College also provides the opportunity to once again remind voters that the Constitutional Electoral College system is important to our republic.

Following the 2000 election, many Democrats called for abolishing the Electoral College to establish a direct, popular vote election. In their wisdom, our Founding Fathers understood that such a direct democratic vote would essentially disenfranchise voters who don’t live in larger, populous cities or states. Historian David Barton of Wall Builders has a fantastic article on his web site detailing the importance of the Electoral College. 

Last session, Senator Carole Migden carried legislation that would have abolished California’s participation in the Electoral College system. Undoubtedly, there will be more such attempts to change an “antiquated” system that doesn’t benefit the Democrat Party. Hopefully, such attempts will be thwarted by those who understand the importance of guarding the voting rights of all Americans—not just those in certain regions. 

In the mean time, take a few moments to watch the historic meeting live over at the California Channel’s web site.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.