A conversation this morning…<\/p>\n
\n D: i have a question<\/p>\n
Me: i’ve got an answer
\n let’s see if they match<\/p>\nD: part of my reluctance to vote or even spend the time educating myself in preparation to vote is my assumption that the election comes down to the electoral college, thus making the public vote essentially worthless. true or false?<\/p>\n
Me: there were times when I’d have agreed — I’m no big fan of the electoral college system — but if nothing else, the 2000 situation in Florida should (to me, at least) make it clear that the public vote does<\/em> count…it’s what determines who gets the electoral votes, after all<\/p>\n
D: ok, so tell me how the public vote affectes the electoral process<\/p>\n
Me: lol this always makes my brain hurt…but I’ll give it a shot<\/p>\n
D: hheheh<\/p>\n
Me: each state has X number of electoral votes, determined by population
\n the popular vote determines how the electoral votes are cast
\n if the majority of a state votes Dem, the electoral votes are cast for the Dem nominee
\n (which is one of the reasons I’m not a fan – I’d prefer it if the electoral votes were split roughly by how the popular vote went…so, if a state voted 2\/3 Rep and 1\/3 Dem, the electoral votes would also be 2\/3 Rep and 1\/3 Dem, rather than all Rep)<\/p>\nD: ahh<\/p>\n
Me: some states might split the electoral votes already, in fact – I think<\/em> some do, but i’m not entirely sure
\n It’s a goofy system, but it’s the one we’ve got
\n and sitting it out…well, no personal offense, but I have no<\/em> respect for people who voluntarily give up their right to have a say – my feeling has always been that if you don’t vote, you’ve got no right to bitch about the outcome<\/p>\nD: oh, i agree. while i might (and sometimes do) complain about how bush is an idiot, i have no right to do so since i didn’t vote for or against him<\/p>\n
Me: lol (though I do like that you do<\/em> bitch — means there’s more of a chance of your voting against him come november (which you should (dammit (grin)))) lol<\/p>\n
D: LOL<\/p>\n
Me: was that enough parenthesis?<\/p>\n
D: very nice<\/p>\n
Me: ty
\n if you’re really<\/em> bored, I could look up some of my old soapbox rants about voting lol
\n i grew up in Alaska, where in many very real ways, my vote didn’t<\/em> count
\n never stopped me, though<\/p>\nD: perhaps one day i’ll get informed and vote
\n maybe even this year
\n w’ll see<\/p>\nMe: you should<\/p>\n
D: i know i don’t want bush in office again, but i don’t want to vote for just anyone, either
\n if you can find me a site that lays it all out in a clear, concise manner, i’ll read through it all and see if i can’t decide which person i feel would do the best job in office<\/p>\nMe: hmmm…not sure if there’s any one particular site…i’ll see what i can come up with, though<\/p>\n
D: :)<\/p>\n
Me: actually, mind if I blog this?<\/p>\n
D: nope<\/p>\n
Me: might be the easiest way…put out a call for suggestions\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, folks. Any suggestions for my friend?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
i know i don’t want bush in office again, but i don’t want to vote for just anyone, either. if you can find me a site that lays it all out in a clear, concise manner, i’ll read through it all and see if i can’t decide which person i feel would do the best job in office<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2042],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-2553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}