Does the current Electoral College system encourage face-to-face grassroots campaigning over television-driven mass media appearances?
No. Advertising is going to be a part of modern politics, but the lesson of recent presidential races is that old-fashioned get-out-the-vote activities are essential to success. As long as there are Americans who are willing and able to get involved on the grassroots level—knocking on the doors of neighbors, etc—then there will be grassroots campaigning in the United States. The candidate who can inspire the most of that campaigning will have a significant advantage. As to money, candidates already are trying to raise as much money as they can. There simply will be a more equitable distribution of their campaign resources, in turn creating more incentives for parties and candidates to establish over time new efforts promoting participation at the grassroots level.
