Should voters care about the rules for electing a U.S. President?
by Alexander S. Belenky Yes, they should, and the media coverage of the 2008 election campaign shows it. The 2000 election demonstrated to many Americans that the Electoral College, rather than the national popular vote, decides the election outcome. Presidential candidates understand this as well and therefore focus their campaigns on “battleground” states. Though the media still entertain the audience with national polls, trying to depict the 2008 election as a horse race, the candidates don’t seem to pay much attention to these polls. Everyone even remotely familiar with the Electoral College knows that, say, a 45% to 45% “dead heat” in the national polls can translate into 0 votes to 538 votes, 269 votes to 269 votes, or any other ratio of votes in the Electoral College (assuming that all the 538 electors are appointed). Today, the “rules of the game” in presidential elections are such that the national popular vote doesn’t matter in deciding the election outcome, and even a small
by Alexander S. Belenky Yes, they should, and the media coverage of the 2008 election campaign shows it. (see full text) How the Media Cover the Rules for Electing a U.S. President by Alexander S. Belenky The media coverage of presidential election rules remains as insufficient and as superficial as it has been for decades. The media publish and air only sensational (what they believe to be) possible developments in the course of the 2008 election, by inviting a few selected political scientists who often present constitutional basics just as they’ve just discovered them. Here are a few examples of the coverage that is currently offered to the American people. Obama-Palin or McCain-Biden as an elected pair of candidates as a result of a 269 to 269 electoral tie is one “sensational” election outcome that the media discuss. Nancy Pelosi as President is another “sensational” option should both Houses deadlock by Inauguration Day. But the coverage of even these two options lacks any compre
