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America in and of itself was a perfect
dream implemented by imperfect men.
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But the foresight
of the founding fathers
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was to understand
their innate imperfection
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and to create a system
that was empowered
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with the mechanics for change.
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I have a dream
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that one day on the
red hills of Georgia
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sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slave owners,
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will they be able to sit down
together at the table of brotherhood.
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I have a dream.
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The Electoral College
is one of the things
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that it gives the framework for you
to have the power
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to stand up for your rights
and your liberties.
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You’ve had it for so long people
don’t know what it truly means.
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The actual structure that we have
that has allowed us to get here
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is not the thing that
we should want to take down.
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A lots happened
over the years.
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And while this nation
has been tested by war
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and it’s been tested
by recession
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and all matter of challenges
I stand before you again tonight
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after almost two terms
as your president to tell you
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I am more optimistic
about the future of America
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than eve before.
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America was designed to
protect individual rights
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and getting rid
of the Electoral College
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is the simplest way to make sure
that we fall short of our potential.
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People have gotten stuck on the word
democracy but we are a democratic republic
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designed to cool
the passions of society.
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That is what the constitution was
designed to do and by extension,
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that is what the Electoral College
is designed to safeguard.
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That’s also why this experiment we call
America has been so effective for so long.
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I remember when I first studied
American politics
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and constitutionalism the idea
of Electoral College
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is always kind of an outlier
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if for no other reason
it’s not a college.
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I mean you don’t actually
go there to study.
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It doesn’t actually exist
in the same way.
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Well what is this thing?
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It’s an odd bird in the sense
of it’s not an obvious thing.
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Having said that it’s
a quite brilliant creation
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on the part of the founders.
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After the American Revolution
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and before the constitution
you have this period of time
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where we had a different constitution
called the Articles of Confederation
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00:04:06,162 --> 00:04:10,498
and this was a really,
really simple government.
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It’s basically just a congress
with nothing else.
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00:04:13,711 --> 00:04:17,006
And that meant that the states
really just did their own thing.
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00:04:18,216 --> 00:04:23,096
The revolution was fought on behalf of
self-government in colonial capitals.
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So if you were from Connecticut
you were fighting the revolution
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in order to be taxed not from
Westminster but from Hartford.
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And why was Hartford preferable?
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Well because that’s the people
that you were electing.
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00:04:34,941 --> 00:04:36,566
And does that mean
that you wanted a government
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that had input from people
who lived in Georgia?
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No. It did not mean that.
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00:04:40,697 --> 00:04:44,198
In fact you probably had no conception
of people who lived in Georgia.
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00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,784
You almost certainly
had no contact with people
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00:04:46,786 --> 00:04:49,747
from outside your own region,
probably your own state.
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You likely never met anybody
who had been there.
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You’d never talked
to anyone from there.
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You didn’t even know
what they sounded like.
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We often think that
the United States
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started as a powerful nation.
It didn’t.
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It started as 13 feeble states barely
knit together by a continental agreement.
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And all around these states
was the British Empire.
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And then to the west across the
Mississippi River the Spanish Empire.
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The European states
had not gone away.
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They were fully as threatening
and present
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as they had been
at any other time.
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And here were these 13 states
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making themselves weaker
and weaker day by day
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with the way
they argued with each other.
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And then people realized
there’s essentially no way
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that those states can vindicate
the rights of people
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who live there
unless their leagued together.
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So this doesn’t mean
that you think
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that if you’re in New Jersey
that you want New Yorkers
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to be involved in anything to do
with the government you have.
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But you need to league with them
in fighting this war.
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But that poses a problem
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because a lot of the rhetoric
of the revolution
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is about home rule and not
having excessive government,
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not having government
that’s not accountable to you
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and your neighbors.
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Why would you be fighting
a revolution
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against distant
unaccountable authority
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and then trying to create a new
distant unaccountable authority.
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The founders saw that the
democracy that was going on
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within the states
was not doing a good job
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in some cases
of protecting individual rights.
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So when they got together
to create the constitution
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this was one of the things
they knew they had to do
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although at the beginning
they didn’t know quite
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how they were going to do it.
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But they knew they had
to create a government
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that the power
comes from the people
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but also a government they
couldn’t oppress the people.
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And that was what set them
down this road
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of writing
the American constitution.
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In order to create a government
that would work, the founders
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of the constitutional
convention realized
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that you had to create
a federal government
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00:07:01,921 --> 00:07:03,754
that was going to be able
to exercise
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in an effective way,
three basic functions of government.
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One is legislating.
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00:07:09,929 --> 00:07:13,973
One is putting
that legislation into effect.
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And the other is judging the laws that
are passed by the legislative branch
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and carried out by the executive
branch and that’s the judiciary.
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The concerns of the founders were premised
upon a certain view of human nature.
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They thought that people were
ultimately corrupt or corruptible
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and therefore the incentives
that operated
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within a given system
would shape their behavior.
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And so we have this
Rube Goldberg device essentially
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that is set up to make it difficult
for laws to be enacted willy nilly.
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00:07:57,477 --> 00:08:01,145
The founders knew based on
human history
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that the same government that
has the power to imprison you
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00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,984
or even take your life
or take someone else’s life
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00:08:06,986 --> 00:08:09,403
should not be able
to make decisions quickly.
121
00:08:09,405 --> 00:08:12,948
Because through history
often minorities
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00:08:12,950 --> 00:08:15,953
were disadvantaged
at the hands of government.
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At the time the founding fathers
were drafting the constitution
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00:08:21,042 --> 00:08:23,795
they had one principle thought in mind.
And that is
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preserving the liberties
of the American people.
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They were living at a time
when there was a lot of tyranny
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00:08:31,219 --> 00:08:34,303
and to their observation
it came from the fact
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that the same person or group
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00:08:36,265 --> 00:08:39,977
could both make a law
and enforce the law.
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So the ability to make and enforce
the law allows for self-dealing.
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There’s a concern
with one’s own interests.
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00:08:47,777 --> 00:08:51,445
This goes back to human nature
as the founder’s understood it.
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If people have the opportunity
to exercise power in their favor
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00:08:54,826 --> 00:08:57,368
it will be a temptation
to do so,
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00:08:57,370 --> 00:08:59,120
one that may be
too difficult to resist.
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00:08:59,122 --> 00:09:02,540
So you create an institution
that will prevent this
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00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:05,918
or at least reduce
the ability to self deal.
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00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,589
So in order to make sure
in the new constitution
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00:09:09,298 --> 00:09:12,967
that no person or group
could do both of those things,
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00:09:12,969 --> 00:09:15,094
make the law
and enforce the law,
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00:09:15,096 --> 00:09:19,559
they decided to place
the lawmaking in one category
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00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,812
and the enforcement of the law
in another category.
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Separation of powers had
not been the norm in history.
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00:09:26,649 --> 00:09:29,567
So it was a doctrine that
was made popular by Montesquieu
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00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:32,653
and others about the time
of the revolution, a bit before.
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00:09:32,655 --> 00:09:35,406
And it was the recognition that
if you wanted to control power
147
00:09:35,408 --> 00:09:39,452
you couldn’t let one person
sit in every capacity
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00:09:39,454 --> 00:09:42,037
and as they always say absolute
power corrupts absolutely.
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00:09:42,039 --> 00:09:43,666
So we divide the power up.
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00:09:44,041 --> 00:09:46,333
But there is a misperception
out there
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that the founders were elitists
who didn’t trust the people
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00:09:49,046 --> 00:09:51,464
and the reality is
they didn’t trust anybody.
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00:09:51,466 --> 00:09:53,924
They knew that left to his own
devices the president
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sometimes will abuse his power.
Left to their own devices
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the congress sometimes
will abuse its power.
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00:09:58,931 --> 00:10:00,514
Same with the judiciary.
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00:10:00,516 --> 00:10:02,683
The national government
versus the state government,
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00:10:02,685 --> 00:10:05,978
the elected officials versus the
people who are voting for them,
159
00:10:05,980 --> 00:10:09,982
everybody is subject
to this problem of human nature.
160
00:10:09,984 --> 00:10:15,070
And the founders set up a system
of absolutely nobody is trusted.
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00:10:15,072 --> 00:10:16,572
Everybody is given a little bit
of power
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00:10:16,574 --> 00:10:19,074
to check the others
to create accountability.
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00:10:19,076 --> 00:10:21,869
And the founders hoped
that in this way
164
00:10:21,871 --> 00:10:23,162
they would protect liberty
165
00:10:23,164 --> 00:10:25,333
from the imperfections
of human nature.
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00:10:26,167 --> 00:10:29,587
Liberty when you examine what
the founders thought about it
167
00:10:30,046 --> 00:10:34,550
meant fundamentally that
the citizens of a republic
168
00:10:35,384 --> 00:10:36,800
could conduct their business,
169
00:10:36,802 --> 00:10:38,969
go their way
and live their lives
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00:10:38,971 --> 00:10:42,598
for the most part unmolested
by the power
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00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,977
and the intervention
of the federal government.
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00:10:45,561 --> 00:10:46,977
So what do you do?
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00:10:46,979 --> 00:10:52,691
You take liberty and you
protect it from its chief enemy.
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00:10:52,693 --> 00:10:55,404
Because the chief threat
to liberty is power.
175
00:10:56,531 --> 00:11:00,326
Well, what do you do then?
You take power and you divide it.
176
00:11:00,701 --> 00:11:04,747
You make the different parts
and aspects of political power
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00:11:05,456 --> 00:11:07,625
in effect quarrel
with each other
178
00:11:08,292 --> 00:11:12,253
and expend their energy
balancing each other.
179
00:11:12,255 --> 00:11:13,587
Because when they do that
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00:11:13,589 --> 00:11:17,260
then they’re not going to be a threat
to the liberties of the people.
181
00:11:18,344 --> 00:11:22,763
So this was the central problem
of the constitutional convention.
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00:11:22,765 --> 00:11:28,938
How do we empower government and
yet curb its excesses of power?
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00:11:30,314 --> 00:11:35,361
What was finally arrived
at after long months of debate
184
00:11:35,945 --> 00:11:38,529
was the idea
of the single president
185
00:11:38,531 --> 00:11:40,698
who would have all
the responsibility
186
00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:42,952
of the executive authority
in his hands
187
00:11:43,786 --> 00:11:46,872
but would also be limited
in certain important ways
188
00:11:47,123 --> 00:11:50,791
by powers that were distributed
to the legislative branch
189
00:11:50,793 --> 00:11:52,420
and to the judicial branch.
190
00:11:53,713 --> 00:11:59,927
Yesterday, December 7, 1941
191
00:12:01,137 --> 00:12:05,474
a date which will live
in infamy
192
00:12:06,726 --> 00:12:09,812
United States of America
193
00:12:09,854 --> 00:12:13,316
was suddenly
and deliberately attacked
194
00:12:14,692 --> 00:12:19,030
by naval and air
forces of the empire of Japan.
195
00:12:19,780 --> 00:12:21,614
What does the president do?
196
00:12:21,616 --> 00:12:24,660
The president is there
to act now.
197
00:12:25,828 --> 00:12:27,413
He doesn’t make the law.
198
00:12:28,706 --> 00:12:32,209
In the congress a slow process
is very good.
199
00:12:33,002 --> 00:12:37,423
With an executive a slow process
can often be very bad.
200
00:12:38,341 --> 00:12:40,718
In a crisis
you may not have time.
201
00:12:42,011 --> 00:12:45,806
We need executives
who can execute
202
00:12:45,848 --> 00:12:48,309
and execute effectively
and quickly.
203
00:12:48,809 --> 00:12:51,352
The president is not supposed
to have very much power
204
00:12:51,354 --> 00:12:53,020
over how government works.
205
00:12:53,022 --> 00:12:54,855
The president's supposed
to make government work.
206
00:12:54,857 --> 00:12:57,024
The president is supposed to be
in charge
207
00:12:57,026 --> 00:12:57,066
The president is supposed to be
in charge
of actually getting things done
but not deciding what gets done
208
00:12:57,068 --> 00:13:00,613
of actually getting things done
but not deciding what gets done
209
00:13:00,655 --> 00:13:02,154
or what policies are going
to be carried out.
210
00:13:02,156 --> 00:13:05,701
That’s supposed to be congress.
As congress has done less
211
00:13:05,743 --> 00:13:09,078
and less the executive
has had to do more and more.
212
00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,042
And it’s shifted our political
attention to the White House
213
00:13:13,584 --> 00:13:17,880
and it’s why we have these big
fights over presidential elections.
214
00:13:28,724 --> 00:13:31,475
One of the big problems of
the constitutional convention
215
00:13:31,477 --> 00:13:34,978
was deciding how will
we select an executive.
216
00:13:34,980 --> 00:13:36,647
And they talked about
all kinds of things.
217
00:13:36,649 --> 00:13:38,607
Should it be
a multi person executive?
218
00:13:38,609 --> 00:13:40,651
You serve three people
like a triumvirate
219
00:13:40,653 --> 00:13:42,736
or something like that?
Should it be one person?
220
00:13:42,738 --> 00:13:45,157
And how is that person
going to be chosen?
221
00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:48,742
Some folks thought that it
should be the people should vote
222
00:13:48,744 --> 00:13:51,412
and the executive should be
relying on the popular vote.
223
00:13:51,414 --> 00:13:54,957
But representatives primarily from
smaller states were concerned.
224
00:13:54,959 --> 00:13:57,584
They said well, the bigger
states have more population
225
00:13:57,586 --> 00:13:59,630
and they’ll just
rule everything.
226
00:13:59,797 --> 00:14:01,714
They went back and forth
small states
227
00:14:01,716 --> 00:14:03,590
versus large the whole summer.
228
00:14:03,592 --> 00:14:07,845
And finally at the end of the
summer behind closed doors
229
00:14:07,847 --> 00:14:09,849
in a subcommittee
that had been dispatched
230
00:14:09,890 --> 00:14:12,808
to wrap up some remaining items
that’s where the idea
231
00:14:12,810 --> 00:14:15,436
for the Electoral College
was generated.
232
00:14:15,438 --> 00:14:16,937
And all that we really know
about it
233
00:14:16,939 --> 00:14:19,898
is that one of the delegates
later wrote Mr. Madison
234
00:14:19,900 --> 00:14:22,860
took out the pen and paper
and he sketched out an idea.
235
00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:25,070
And that’s what we know.
They came back
236
00:14:25,072 --> 00:14:27,030
and they presented
this Electoral College idea
237
00:14:27,032 --> 00:14:29,867
to the full convention.
And they tweaked a few things
238
00:14:29,869 --> 00:14:31,452
but they largely accepted
the idea
239
00:14:31,454 --> 00:14:35,122
that Madison and the other
subcommittee meetings had presented.
240
00:14:35,124 --> 00:14:37,334
And that’s how we got
our Electoral College.
241
00:14:44,759 --> 00:14:48,635
To create a separate
independent executive
242
00:14:48,637 --> 00:14:50,637
who was independent
of the congress,
243
00:14:50,639 --> 00:14:54,435
had his own or her own authority
under the constitution,
244
00:14:55,102 --> 00:14:58,105
it was necessary to develop
a system of election.
245
00:14:58,731 --> 00:15:00,649
What would be the best way
to do that?
246
00:15:01,192 --> 00:15:04,485
They thought prominent people
would be elected
247
00:15:04,487 --> 00:15:08,322
by the population in general
and those prominent people
248
00:15:08,324 --> 00:15:11,116
would then elect the president.
249
00:15:11,118 --> 00:15:13,913
The prominent people
became known as electors.
250
00:15:14,580 --> 00:15:17,706
A presidential elector
is actually a real person.
251
00:15:17,708 --> 00:15:19,958
They’re elected
at the state level.
252
00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,503
The electors never meet
all together nationally.
253
00:15:22,505 --> 00:15:24,213
They just meet
in their own states.
254
00:15:24,215 --> 00:15:26,965
And in December all they do
255
00:15:26,967 --> 00:15:29,968
is vote for president
and vice president.
256
00:15:29,970 --> 00:15:32,304
Then they go home,
never to be heard from again.
257
00:15:32,306 --> 00:15:35,933
And in January we legally know
who really is elected president
258
00:15:35,935 --> 00:15:37,184
and vice president
259
00:15:37,186 --> 00:15:39,230
and a few weeks later
they’re sworn in.
260
00:15:39,271 --> 00:15:40,896
The states began to realize
261
00:15:40,898 --> 00:15:44,399
that if the state
allocated all its electors
262
00:15:44,401 --> 00:15:48,403
to one person the state
would have much more to say
263
00:15:48,405 --> 00:15:50,113
about who became president.
264
00:15:50,115 --> 00:15:54,284
And so almost all the states
then began to require
265
00:15:54,286 --> 00:15:58,664
the person who gets the majority
of the popular vote in the state
266
00:15:58,666 --> 00:16:01,208
would be chosen
by the electors casting
267
00:16:01,210 --> 00:16:03,377
all of the votes of that state.
268
00:16:03,379 --> 00:16:06,672
The whole Electoral College
process is a democratic process.
269
00:16:06,674 --> 00:16:08,215
It’s one person, one vote.
Right?
270
00:16:08,217 --> 00:16:12,221
All the democratic principles
apply just at the state level.
271
00:16:12,805 --> 00:16:16,849
So in a presidential election
year the state republicans,
272
00:16:16,851 --> 00:16:19,393
the state democrats,
maybe the state libertarians,
273
00:16:19,395 --> 00:16:22,398
maybe the state green party,
they will have a convention
274
00:16:23,190 --> 00:16:27,568
and they will nominate people to
be their presidential electors.
275
00:16:27,570 --> 00:16:30,364
If their party wins that
state’s presidential election
276
00:16:31,031 --> 00:16:34,159
then their nominees
for presidential elector
277
00:16:34,743 --> 00:16:36,577
become that state’s
presidential electors
278
00:16:36,579 --> 00:16:40,080
and get to cast those electoral
votes for their party’s nominee.
279
00:16:40,082 --> 00:16:42,165
Mr. President the certificate
of the electoral vote
280
00:16:42,167 --> 00:16:43,458
of the state of California
281
00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:46,213
seems to be regular in form
and authentic.
282
00:16:46,755 --> 00:16:48,672
And it appears therefrom
that Hilary Clinton
283
00:16:48,674 --> 00:16:52,384
of the state of New York
received 55 votes for president
284
00:16:52,386 --> 00:16:55,095
and Tim Cain
of the Commonwealth of Virginia
285
00:16:55,097 --> 00:16:58,015
received 55 votes
for vice president.
286
00:16:58,017 --> 00:17:02,144
We don’t expect our electors
to use their own discretion.
287
00:17:02,146 --> 00:17:03,770
In fact we call
those faithless electors
288
00:17:03,772 --> 00:17:05,480
and they’re pretty rare.
289
00:17:05,482 --> 00:17:09,776
So we do expect our electors –
and they pledge indeed to vote
290
00:17:09,778 --> 00:17:11,989
for the person
who won overall in the state.
291
00:17:12,615 --> 00:17:14,615
So the idea that your vote
doesn’t count
292
00:17:14,617 --> 00:17:16,033
in the Electoral College
is strange.
293
00:17:16,035 --> 00:17:17,367
Your vote does count.
294
00:17:17,369 --> 00:17:19,995
It contributes
to whoever wins your state.
295
00:17:19,997 --> 00:17:22,122
But really you wouldn’t
want it any other way.
296
00:17:22,124 --> 00:17:24,917
If you’re a California voter,
you want the candidate
297
00:17:24,919 --> 00:17:28,045
who is most popular in California
to get the maximum advantage.
298
00:17:28,047 --> 00:17:29,630
Similarly if you live
in Wyoming,
299
00:17:29,632 --> 00:17:31,798
similarly if you live
in North Dakota.
300
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,051
So we have democracy today
301
00:17:34,053 --> 00:17:37,806
but we have 51 democratic
elections, not just one.
302
00:17:38,557 --> 00:17:42,559
And so they decentralized
those votes to recognize
303
00:17:42,561 --> 00:17:44,019
that states are different.
304
00:17:44,021 --> 00:17:46,357
You can think of the World
Series the same way.
305
00:17:46,941 --> 00:17:49,650
It’s not who gets the most runs
in seven games.
306
00:17:49,652 --> 00:17:53,320
It’s who wins the most games.
And the Electoral College
307
00:17:53,322 --> 00:17:56,156
it’s who wins in effect
the most states,
308
00:17:56,158 --> 00:18:00,494
not just who gets the most votes
in total across the nation.
309
00:18:00,496 --> 00:18:02,537
And those are
very different systems.
310
00:18:02,539 --> 00:18:05,916
But no one says the World Series
is undemocratic
311
00:18:05,918 --> 00:18:09,336
because my team got 24 runs
in the series
312
00:18:09,338 --> 00:18:11,882
and your team got 12
but they won more games.
313
00:18:12,508 --> 00:18:16,679
It's just each game becomes
its individualized contest.
314
00:18:17,221 --> 00:18:19,807
The Electoral College idea
reflected the compromises
315
00:18:19,848 --> 00:18:21,306
that had already been made
316
00:18:21,308 --> 00:18:24,101
in the composition
of the legislature.
317
00:18:24,103 --> 00:18:26,561
So of course in our congress
we have a senate
318
00:18:26,563 --> 00:18:28,438
with one state
one vote representation
319
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,691
which makes
the small states happy.
320
00:18:30,693 --> 00:18:33,694
That is what they were used to
before we had a constitution at all.
321
00:18:33,696 --> 00:18:37,322
It also has a house with one
person one vote representation
322
00:18:37,324 --> 00:18:39,199
which of course satisfied
the big states
323
00:18:39,201 --> 00:18:41,994
because their larger populations
would be reflected.
324
00:18:41,996 --> 00:18:44,955
The Electoral College reflects
the same compromise
325
00:18:44,957 --> 00:18:46,873
and the reason it reflects
that compromise is
326
00:18:46,875 --> 00:18:49,251
because you have
the same number of electors
327
00:18:49,253 --> 00:18:51,044
as you have members of congress.
328
00:18:51,046 --> 00:18:54,172
So there is an element
of one state one vote
329
00:18:54,174 --> 00:18:55,507
in the Electoral College
330
00:18:55,509 --> 00:18:57,551
but there’s also an element
of one person one vote.
331
00:18:57,553 --> 00:19:00,929
California still has many
more electors than a state
332
00:19:00,931 --> 00:19:02,723
like Wyoming or Rhode Island.
333
00:19:02,725 --> 00:19:05,976
This system solved a lot of
their philosophical problems
334
00:19:05,978 --> 00:19:07,855
of a democracy
within a republic.
335
00:19:08,355 --> 00:19:12,065
It also played the role of kind
of breaking up regional factions
336
00:19:12,067 --> 00:19:14,026
which is something they were
extremely concerned about
337
00:19:14,028 --> 00:19:16,069
especially at the time of the founding.
338
00:19:16,071 --> 00:19:19,740
And it made the presidency
representative
339
00:19:19,742 --> 00:19:23,579
of all of the popular aspects
within the federal government.
340
00:19:24,246 --> 00:19:28,081
Such that the presidency today
is the one office,
341
00:19:28,083 --> 00:19:29,875
in this case the office
is an individual
342
00:19:29,877 --> 00:19:32,252
that actually represents
all of the American people
343
00:19:32,254 --> 00:19:35,049
as opposed to a particular state
or a congressional district.
344
00:19:35,841 --> 00:19:37,924
So after all this
it’s quite ironic
345
00:19:37,926 --> 00:19:39,176
that the Electoral College
346
00:19:39,178 --> 00:19:41,597
is being attacked as
being anti-democratic
347
00:19:42,389 --> 00:19:44,848
when indeed the creation
of Electoral College
348
00:19:44,850 --> 00:19:46,308
made executive leadership
349
00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:48,769
possible within
a democratic republic.
350
00:19:48,771 --> 00:19:50,729
And without that I think
the system
351
00:19:50,731 --> 00:19:52,022
really wouldn’t have worked
352
00:19:52,024 --> 00:19:53,899
and actually many
of the regional divides
353
00:19:53,901 --> 00:19:55,317
we all know about
in American history
354
00:19:55,319 --> 00:19:58,197
would have probably
broken down a long time ago.
355
00:20:10,584 --> 00:20:13,085
We have to understand that
the Electoral College
356
00:20:13,087 --> 00:20:15,631
fundamentally
is about federalism
357
00:20:16,423 --> 00:20:20,175
which means it’s about the basics
of our constitutional system
358
00:20:20,177 --> 00:20:23,639
because the constitution
creates a federal union.
359
00:20:24,973 --> 00:20:30,018
Federalism fundamentally
means that states
360
00:20:30,020 --> 00:20:34,231
which have their own sovereignty
as states agree
361
00:20:34,233 --> 00:20:36,191
to act for common purposes
362
00:20:36,193 --> 00:20:40,572
in creating an overarching
umbrella federal government
363
00:20:41,281 --> 00:20:44,533
that will help them do
as a collective
364
00:20:44,535 --> 00:20:47,996
what is difficult or impossible
for them to do as individuals.
365
00:20:48,413 --> 00:20:52,000
For instance states
are perfectly competent
366
00:20:52,668 --> 00:20:54,543
to design their own
educational systems,
367
00:20:54,545 --> 00:20:58,048
build their bridges and
designate their state capitals.
368
00:20:59,216 --> 00:21:02,008
They are much,
much less competent
369
00:21:02,010 --> 00:21:05,681
to conduct foreign policy,
create armies and build navies.
370
00:21:06,306 --> 00:21:08,807
Far better for
a federal government
371
00:21:08,809 --> 00:21:12,020
to be responsible for.
That is exactly the balance
372
00:21:12,646 --> 00:21:14,857
that the federal constitution
creates.
373
00:21:18,026 --> 00:21:20,318
State governments are
independent sovereigns.
374
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,032
The federal government
cannot tell them what to do.
375
00:21:24,783 --> 00:21:27,536
That’s an important way
of keeping a check
376
00:21:28,370 --> 00:21:33,915
on the power the federal or in
this case central government.
377
00:21:33,917 --> 00:21:35,584
The federal system
we have I think
378
00:21:35,586 --> 00:21:39,631
runs exactly the way the funders
designed and envisioned it to.
379
00:21:40,215 --> 00:21:43,633
It’s often been said
that the states laboratories
380
00:21:43,635 --> 00:21:46,555
of democracy again
is very much the case.
381
00:21:47,222 --> 00:21:51,059
Wyoming in 1892 they let women
vote long
382
00:21:51,602 --> 00:21:53,852
before anyone else
wanted women to vote.
383
00:21:53,854 --> 00:21:55,687
Other states soon followed
384
00:21:55,689 --> 00:21:58,773
and this has happened
in other ways as well.
385
00:21:58,775 --> 00:22:00,400
Whether it’s abolishing slavery
386
00:22:00,402 --> 00:22:02,736
or enacting certain
civil rights measures.
387
00:22:02,738 --> 00:22:06,114
And if the federal government
were left to be in charge
388
00:22:06,116 --> 00:22:09,701
we would basically be waiting
for 50 sets of representatives
389
00:22:09,703 --> 00:22:12,412
and senators
to all simultaneously come
390
00:22:12,414 --> 00:22:15,375
to the same
revolutionary way of thinking
391
00:22:15,918 --> 00:22:17,792
and to enact
some of these measures.
392
00:22:17,794 --> 00:22:21,296
Whereas when you can rely on
a smaller subset one state
393
00:22:21,298 --> 00:22:23,256
or one region
or a group of states
394
00:22:23,258 --> 00:22:24,841
to have these new ideas
395
00:22:24,843 --> 00:22:26,637
it’s easier
to get the ball rolling.
396
00:22:27,971 --> 00:22:30,597
Our states preexist
the constitution.
397
00:22:30,599 --> 00:22:33,141
They were colonies and then
they were sovereign states
398
00:22:33,143 --> 00:22:35,352
and they remain
sovereign states.
399
00:22:35,354 --> 00:22:39,606
And the Electoral College
is what pulls them together
400
00:22:39,608 --> 00:22:41,983
in order to elect
a chief executive
401
00:22:41,985 --> 00:22:45,111
that is over all of them
protecting
402
00:22:45,113 --> 00:22:48,949
and making sure that the smaller
members of the federation,
403
00:22:48,951 --> 00:22:53,203
of the federal union are not
simply overwhelmed and ignored
404
00:22:53,205 --> 00:22:55,791
by the popular vote nationwide.
405
00:22:56,583 --> 00:22:59,542
It’s that federalism which
the Electoral College
406
00:22:59,544 --> 00:23:04,381
is the premier example of
in our constitutional system.
407
00:23:04,383 --> 00:23:06,800
If we begin to tamper with
the Electoral College what we’re
408
00:23:06,802 --> 00:23:09,928
really starting to do is
to dismantle the federal system.
409
00:23:09,930 --> 00:23:13,098
And when that happens
then we’re kissing goodbye
410
00:23:13,100 --> 00:23:17,018
to all the possibilities
that federalism has represented.
411
00:23:17,020 --> 00:23:18,228
Greater democracy,
412
00:23:18,230 --> 00:23:21,400
greater participation
and greater liberty.
413
00:23:22,109 --> 00:23:25,694
One other historical benefit
we can see of federalism
414
00:23:25,696 --> 00:23:27,988
lies in the fact that eventually
415
00:23:27,990 --> 00:23:29,656
after
the constitutional convention
416
00:23:29,658 --> 00:23:31,992
one by one northern states
take action
417
00:23:31,994 --> 00:23:34,494
in their own legislatures
to abolish slavery.
418
00:23:34,496 --> 00:23:36,123
If there hadn’t been federalism,
419
00:23:36,832 --> 00:23:40,333
if the states hadn’t had
the option and the authority
420
00:23:40,335 --> 00:23:42,711
to make that kind of decision
for themselves
421
00:23:42,713 --> 00:23:45,632
you would never have had
the development of a free north.
422
00:23:46,300 --> 00:23:49,219
And a free north
which in time to come
423
00:23:49,845 --> 00:23:53,513
would be able to stand up
against the aggressions
424
00:23:53,515 --> 00:23:56,725
of what became known
as the slave power.
425
00:23:56,727 --> 00:24:01,104
We would not have had
the leverage necessary
426
00:24:01,106 --> 00:24:03,525
towards the final abolition
of slavery
427
00:24:04,234 --> 00:24:09,446
without those individual
federalized distinctions
428
00:24:09,448 --> 00:24:12,826
and decisions made
by individual state legislators.
429
00:24:23,545 --> 00:24:26,713
We also as we sort of grow up
in this country
430
00:24:26,715 --> 00:24:30,302
and we vote in all sorts
of lesser elections
431
00:24:30,844 --> 00:24:33,261
the principle of majority rule
432
00:24:33,263 --> 00:24:37,223
seems to prevail in virtually
every other election.
433
00:24:37,225 --> 00:24:40,477
I don’t understand why
at this point in time
434
00:24:40,479 --> 00:24:41,728
we continue to adhere
435
00:24:41,730 --> 00:24:45,398
to a system that
again undermines in my view
436
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:47,859
the principle
of political equality
437
00:24:47,861 --> 00:24:50,111
and simply doesn’t follow
the straightforward logic
438
00:24:50,113 --> 00:24:51,740
of majority rule.
439
00:24:52,616 --> 00:24:54,574
The trouble with the word
democracy is it means
440
00:24:54,576 --> 00:24:57,744
lots of different things
to lots of different people.
441
00:24:57,746 --> 00:24:59,954
When the founders
talked about democracy
442
00:24:59,956 --> 00:25:03,750
they thought of a bunch of people
getting together and voting on stuff.
443
00:25:03,752 --> 00:25:05,877
When people talk about it today
they often use it
444
00:25:05,879 --> 00:25:08,922
for what the founders would have
talked about as a republic.
445
00:25:08,924 --> 00:25:12,386
So when the founders were
creating our country
446
00:25:12,928 --> 00:25:16,429
they had several examples
to look back to in the past,
447
00:25:16,431 --> 00:25:18,058
places where the public ruled.
448
00:25:18,850 --> 00:25:21,812
And those places were primarily
in antiquated Greece.
449
00:25:22,479 --> 00:25:24,604
And there the public
ruled directly
450
00:25:24,606 --> 00:25:26,608
by making
decisions collectively.
451
00:25:27,234 --> 00:25:28,733
And of course
that was impossible
452
00:25:28,735 --> 00:25:30,819
in an extended republic
like ours
453
00:25:30,821 --> 00:25:33,488
to bring all of the American
citizens together
454
00:25:33,490 --> 00:25:34,948
even at that early stage.
455
00:25:34,950 --> 00:25:36,241
So they understood
that we needed
456
00:25:36,243 --> 00:25:37,784
a republican form of government.
457
00:25:37,786 --> 00:25:40,453
And what they meant by that was
a representative form
458
00:25:40,455 --> 00:25:42,914
of governing
where the will of the people
459
00:25:42,916 --> 00:25:46,126
is translated
through elected officers.
460
00:25:46,128 --> 00:25:48,545
They wanted the public
will to be refined
461
00:25:48,547 --> 00:25:50,964
and enlarged through
our representatives.
462
00:25:50,966 --> 00:25:53,466
But they not only thought
a democracy would be impossible
463
00:25:53,468 --> 00:25:55,470
in this extended republic
but also wise.
464
00:25:56,304 --> 00:26:01,307
I mean ultimately you have to
decide do you value democracy
465
00:26:01,309 --> 00:26:02,978
or do you value
individual rights?
466
00:26:03,687 --> 00:26:05,979
And so it’s always majority
rule, minority right.
467
00:26:05,981 --> 00:26:08,650
If everything is simply
51 percent
468
00:26:09,401 --> 00:26:13,194
then that gives me an interest
to just get my 51 percent,
469
00:26:13,196 --> 00:26:15,905
make it as less diverse
as possible
470
00:26:15,907 --> 00:26:17,866
so that I can actually govern
471
00:26:17,868 --> 00:26:20,745
and ignore you 49 percent
of everybody else.
472
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,542
The notion that the country
is ruled by the majority
473
00:26:26,460 --> 00:26:28,168
is a fiction.
474
00:26:28,170 --> 00:26:31,838
The biggest problem that
the framers had to deal with
475
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:36,009
was the difficulty that
basically we don’t all get along
476
00:26:36,011 --> 00:26:38,889
in the sense that
we have different interests.
477
00:26:39,389 --> 00:26:43,560
Once people have liberty
they will tend to fragment
478
00:26:44,853 --> 00:26:46,936
and that’s the problem.
479
00:26:46,938 --> 00:26:48,940
The question is
what do you do about it?
480
00:26:49,733 --> 00:26:51,816
And there are two ways
to deal with it.
481
00:26:51,818 --> 00:26:54,444
One, you try to get rid of them
which they do
482
00:26:54,446 --> 00:26:57,530
in tyrannical countries,
despotic countries.
483
00:26:57,532 --> 00:27:02,327
Or you adopt the solution
that our framers adopted
484
00:27:02,329 --> 00:27:05,288
and that was you
divide and conquer.
485
00:27:05,290 --> 00:27:09,209
What you make sure
if that you have many factions,
486
00:27:09,211 --> 00:27:12,714
not just a majority faction
and a minority faction.
487
00:27:13,298 --> 00:27:16,466
When you say 50 percent plus 1
you’re referring
488
00:27:16,468 --> 00:27:19,638
to one big faction
versus everybody else.
489
00:27:20,222 --> 00:27:23,264
But in this country
we have many, many factions.
490
00:27:23,266 --> 00:27:25,060
We try to multiply the factions.
491
00:27:25,602 --> 00:27:30,690
And the more we get
the less powerful any one is.
492
00:27:31,608 --> 00:27:37,320
These are all very carefully
crafted checks and balances
493
00:27:37,322 --> 00:27:42,659
that establish the idea
that the majority generally
494
00:27:42,661 --> 00:27:46,081
should get its way
in a number of areas
495
00:27:46,790 --> 00:27:50,667
but we are going to have
mechanisms that from time
496
00:27:50,669 --> 00:27:53,419
to time are going
to frustrate the majority.
497
00:27:53,421 --> 00:27:56,381
And we see that in Supreme Court
rulings from time to time.
498
00:27:56,383 --> 00:28:00,762
We see that when the senate
is able to block legislation.
499
00:28:00,804 --> 00:28:04,264
Occasionally we see it in
the election of the president.
500
00:28:04,266 --> 00:28:08,851
The majority generally gets
its way in our federal republic
501
00:28:08,853 --> 00:28:10,603
but not always.
502
00:28:10,605 --> 00:28:15,066
The constitution does not
establish a democracy.
503
00:28:15,068 --> 00:28:18,403
The constitution is about
establishing self-government
504
00:28:18,405 --> 00:28:20,488
in a way that protects
individual rights
505
00:28:20,490 --> 00:28:24,325
which oftentimes is directly
at odds with democracy.
506
00:28:24,327 --> 00:28:27,370
If what the majority of the people
want in some particular moment
507
00:28:27,372 --> 00:28:29,666
is to interfere
with the rights of a minority.
508
00:28:30,292 --> 00:28:33,001
Well, the constitution was
set up to have varying degrees
509
00:28:33,003 --> 00:28:37,422
of the democratic process show
up in different places
510
00:28:37,424 --> 00:28:40,300
most obviously
the election of the house.
511
00:28:40,302 --> 00:28:43,386
But also you see this
in the delegation of power
512
00:28:43,388 --> 00:28:45,974
to state legislatures
all through the constitution
513
00:28:46,558 --> 00:28:48,975
where the state legislatures
can decide
514
00:28:48,977 --> 00:28:50,310
how to elect the electors,
515
00:28:50,312 --> 00:28:54,522
how to run an election,
how to manage their own affairs.
516
00:28:54,524 --> 00:28:56,941
So the founders
have a lot of democracy
517
00:28:56,943 --> 00:28:58,985
if you will in the election
of the house.
518
00:28:58,987 --> 00:29:01,362
And they have little bits
of democracy elsewhere
519
00:29:01,364 --> 00:29:03,656
that is also balanced
with minority rights
520
00:29:03,658 --> 00:29:05,325
and that’s what makes
the constitution
521
00:29:05,327 --> 00:29:06,911
such a brilliant document.
522
00:29:08,496 --> 00:29:11,664
Abraham Lincoln had to deal
in 1858
523
00:29:11,666 --> 00:29:14,169
with an opponent in the form
of Stephen A Douglas.
524
00:29:15,378 --> 00:29:18,129
Stephen A Douglas was a firm
believer in democracy.
525
00:29:18,131 --> 00:29:20,089
He was so firm of believer
that he believed
526
00:29:20,091 --> 00:29:23,009
that every citizen
in every territory
527
00:29:23,011 --> 00:29:25,553
in every state
to cast a majority vote
528
00:29:25,555 --> 00:29:28,350
for whether they wanted
to have slavery or not slavery.
529
00:29:29,559 --> 00:29:32,354
He didn’t inquire into
the morality of slavery.
530
00:29:33,188 --> 00:29:36,356
He simply said that
if a majority of the people
531
00:29:36,358 --> 00:29:37,649
in a given territory
532
00:29:37,651 --> 00:29:41,110
or a given state wanted to have
slavery then they could have it
533
00:29:41,112 --> 00:29:43,112
if that majority voted
in favor of it,
534
00:29:43,114 --> 00:29:45,033
no further questions asked.
535
00:29:45,700 --> 00:29:49,287
For him democracy
was an end in itself.
536
00:29:49,954 --> 00:29:53,041
That’s all you needed to ask.
What did the majority want?
537
00:29:54,376 --> 00:29:57,629
In modern democracies
we sometimes talk
538
00:29:58,838 --> 00:30:02,634
a little carelessly in the tones
of Stephen A Douglas
539
00:30:03,718 --> 00:30:06,552
that what matters is
whether a 51 percent majority
540
00:30:06,554 --> 00:30:08,181
has endorsed something.
541
00:30:08,848 --> 00:30:13,976
And that is true up to a point
but there is a circle
542
00:30:13,978 --> 00:30:16,272
that is drawn
around a set of rights,
543
00:30:17,107 --> 00:30:18,817
rights that Jefferson
talks about,
544
00:30:19,401 --> 00:30:22,985
rights that are articulated
in the first ten amendments
545
00:30:22,987 --> 00:30:24,989
to the constitution,
the bill of rights.
546
00:30:25,532 --> 00:30:28,074
So we recognize that even
in a democratic system
547
00:30:28,076 --> 00:30:29,450
there are certain
548
00:30:29,452 --> 00:30:34,497
non-negotiables
that majorities cannot pass on.
549
00:30:34,499 --> 00:30:35,873
But we’ve been told that well,
550
00:30:35,875 --> 00:30:38,584
as long as it’s democratic
its’ fine.
551
00:30:38,586 --> 00:30:40,211
That’s a terrible idea.
552
00:30:40,213 --> 00:30:42,463
The most undemocratic part
of the constitution
553
00:30:42,465 --> 00:30:43,756
is the bill of rights.
554
00:30:43,758 --> 00:30:47,635
The bill of rights
is flatly antidemocracy
555
00:30:47,637 --> 00:30:49,053
because the bill of rights says
556
00:30:49,055 --> 00:30:50,849
we don’t care
how big your majority is.
557
00:30:50,890 --> 00:30:52,598
You can’t establish
a national church.
558
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:54,267
We don’t care how big
your majority is.
559
00:30:54,269 --> 00:30:55,854
You can’t outlaw the press.
560
00:30:56,438 --> 00:30:58,187
We don’t care how big
your majority is.
561
00:30:58,189 --> 00:30:59,647
You can’t turn to
a private group
562
00:30:59,649 --> 00:31:01,649
that wants to influence politics
563
00:31:01,651 --> 00:31:04,610
and say we’re going to
outlaw you meeting together.
564
00:31:04,612 --> 00:31:06,696
And these things
will always be in conflict.
565
00:31:06,698 --> 00:31:10,742
Every American has to decide do
we value democracy more
566
00:31:10,744 --> 00:31:12,952
or do we value
individual rights more.
567
00:31:12,954 --> 00:31:14,871
Historically the answer
in our constitution
568
00:31:14,873 --> 00:31:18,124
is we value individual
rights more than democracy.
569
00:31:18,126 --> 00:31:20,670
Democracy is a great process
but it’s a process.
570
00:31:20,712 --> 00:31:22,297
It’s not a purpose.
571
00:31:29,679 --> 00:31:32,013
Talk is again turning
to the final deciders,
572
00:31:32,015 --> 00:31:33,933
the members
of the Electoral College.
573
00:31:34,476 --> 00:31:36,267
After Hilary Clinton
won the popular vote
574
00:31:36,269 --> 00:31:38,811
but lost the Electoral College
vote to Donald Trump
575
00:31:38,813 --> 00:31:40,646
there were new calls to abolish
576
00:31:40,648 --> 00:31:42,692
the constitutionally
mandated system.
577
00:31:47,822 --> 00:31:51,491
Before the founding most people
believed that democracies
578
00:31:51,493 --> 00:31:54,786
could only be executed
at a very small scale
579
00:31:54,788 --> 00:31:56,746
as to say a city state.
580
00:31:56,748 --> 00:31:58,750
But our founders
had a different notion.
581
00:31:59,292 --> 00:32:02,001
They thought not only could
you have a republic,
582
00:32:02,003 --> 00:32:05,338
a representative form of
government in this large nation
583
00:32:05,340 --> 00:32:07,840
but in fact that republic
would be better.
584
00:32:07,842 --> 00:32:09,675
And the reason
it would be better was
585
00:32:09,677 --> 00:32:12,720
because if you enlarge
the scope of the people
586
00:32:12,722 --> 00:32:14,263
within a government
587
00:32:14,265 --> 00:32:17,934
those people have to form
coalitions in order to govern.
588
00:32:17,936 --> 00:32:20,728
And there’s rarely going to be
an instance
589
00:32:20,730 --> 00:32:23,773
where 50 percent
or 51 percent of the public
590
00:32:23,775 --> 00:32:26,234
feel the same way
across every issue.
591
00:32:26,236 --> 00:32:28,194
That is to say
they have the same religion,
592
00:32:28,196 --> 00:32:31,197
the same vocation,
the same fashion.
593
00:32:31,199 --> 00:32:34,617
You’re rarely to have a group
that’s that monolithic
594
00:32:34,619 --> 00:32:37,537
across the entirety
of this extended republic.
595
00:32:37,539 --> 00:32:39,163
So what do you have to do?
596
00:32:39,165 --> 00:32:41,082
Well, you have
to make coalitions with people
597
00:32:41,084 --> 00:32:43,668
about which you agree
on a certain issue
598
00:32:43,670 --> 00:32:45,545
but not perhaps on all issues.
599
00:32:45,547 --> 00:32:48,172
And in that way
everyone governs a bit.
600
00:32:48,174 --> 00:32:50,508
Everyone has a chance
to be heard on issues
601
00:32:50,510 --> 00:32:56,391
that are most important,
most salient to them.
602
00:32:57,392 --> 00:32:59,561
Thank you.
Well, it’s no secret.
603
00:33:00,061 --> 00:33:01,686
I’m here today to announce
604
00:33:01,688 --> 00:33:04,232
that I’m running for president
of the United States.
605
00:33:07,944 --> 00:33:10,403
One of the things that probably
they didn’t even
606
00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:13,197
fully anticipate
was that the Electoral College
607
00:33:13,199 --> 00:33:15,908
would force you as
a presidential candidate
608
00:33:15,910 --> 00:33:18,496
to have to put together
a national coalition.
609
00:33:19,163 --> 00:33:22,248
You couldn’t do it winning one
popular state
610
00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:26,252
or a sectional candidate
or a special interest candidate.
611
00:33:26,254 --> 00:33:28,796
You had to bring together
diverse groups.
612
00:33:28,798 --> 00:33:31,217
You may be unified
by a certain principle.
613
00:33:31,801 --> 00:33:35,219
But on other issues you may
not be so much together on
614
00:33:35,221 --> 00:33:37,348
and culturally you
may not like each other.
615
00:33:38,016 --> 00:33:41,936
But it was a system that allowed
for political competition
616
00:33:42,562 --> 00:33:47,148
but doing so in a way in which
you try to bring people together
617
00:33:47,150 --> 00:33:49,775
rather than trying to find ways
of dividing
618
00:33:49,777 --> 00:33:51,986
and inflaming passions.
619
00:33:51,988 --> 00:33:53,907
So what the Electoral College
does,
620
00:33:53,948 --> 00:33:58,242
it forces everyone to make sure
that they make the rounds,
621
00:33:58,244 --> 00:33:59,954
not just in
the middle of America,
622
00:34:00,663 --> 00:34:03,666
not just to the financiers
of the world in New York.
623
00:34:04,876 --> 00:34:07,668
Not just tinsel town
in California.
624
00:34:07,670 --> 00:34:09,295
To make sure that they make
the rounds
625
00:34:09,297 --> 00:34:10,630
going to all of the states,
626
00:34:10,632 --> 00:34:13,217
all of America
to bring the unified message.
627
00:34:14,135 --> 00:34:18,304
The presidential vote
is not one big thing.
628
00:34:18,306 --> 00:34:20,350
It’s broken into pieces.
629
00:34:20,391 --> 00:34:24,143
And how you put those pieces
together like a puzzle
630
00:34:24,145 --> 00:34:28,981
is how the president
creates a governing consensus.
631
00:34:28,983 --> 00:34:31,277
The democrats are
a going concern
632
00:34:31,861 --> 00:34:35,823
in the most republican states,
in Oklahoma, in Wyoming.
633
00:34:36,532 --> 00:34:39,325
The republicans
have campaign offices
634
00:34:39,327 --> 00:34:43,079
in political organization
in California, in Vermont.
635
00:34:43,081 --> 00:34:45,957
This is part of the Electoral
College driving the parties
636
00:34:45,959 --> 00:34:49,168
to constantly be probing
can we pull this state
637
00:34:49,170 --> 00:34:51,587
or that state
into our coalition.
638
00:34:51,589 --> 00:34:54,550
We hear this talk every four
years about expanding the map.
639
00:34:55,677 --> 00:34:57,843
That’s Electoral College lingo.
Right?
640
00:34:57,845 --> 00:35:00,179
Expanding the map
means reaching out,
641
00:35:00,181 --> 00:35:02,181
winning people over,
building a bigger coalition.
642
00:35:02,183 --> 00:35:04,769
Expanding the map
is an inherently good thing
643
00:35:05,478 --> 00:35:08,145
that comes directly
from the Electoral College.
644
00:35:08,147 --> 00:35:11,357
Without the Electoral College
the presidency
645
00:35:11,359 --> 00:35:16,070
would be decided
in Boston, New York, Chicago,
646
00:35:16,072 --> 00:35:20,032
Seattle, San Francisco
and Los Angeles.
647
00:35:20,034 --> 00:35:23,494
That’s where the game would be
without the Electoral College.
648
00:35:23,496 --> 00:35:26,580
Instead of that you have
candidates for president
649
00:35:26,582 --> 00:35:29,711
going all over the country and
not just going to urban cores.
650
00:35:30,461 --> 00:35:34,340
Politics are local
so the Electoral College
651
00:35:35,091 --> 00:35:39,053
brings a national campaign
to the local community.
652
00:35:39,804 --> 00:35:42,096
Candidates have to be careful
653
00:35:42,098 --> 00:35:44,390
about how they allocate
their time and resources
654
00:35:44,392 --> 00:35:47,643
because it is unproductive
to spend too much time
655
00:35:47,645 --> 00:35:49,939
in one part of the country
or in one big city.
656
00:35:50,481 --> 00:35:52,648
So over and over again
throughout history
657
00:35:52,650 --> 00:35:56,068
presidential candidates
who have tried to overly focus
658
00:35:56,070 --> 00:35:58,487
on one type of voter
have failed.
659
00:35:58,489 --> 00:36:00,281
The Electoral College
does not reward that.
660
00:36:00,283 --> 00:36:03,117
On the flip side if we had
a national popular vote system
661
00:36:03,119 --> 00:36:06,746
we would suddenly find that that
strategy became very productive
662
00:36:06,748 --> 00:36:10,875
because it’s easier to go spend
a bunch of time racking up votes
663
00:36:10,877 --> 00:36:13,753
among voters that
already want to vote for you.
664
00:36:13,755 --> 00:36:16,839
You can imagine a democrat
running out to Los Angeles
665
00:36:16,841 --> 00:36:18,257
or San Francisco
666
00:36:18,259 --> 00:36:21,260
and promising the environmental
lobby anything they want.
667
00:36:21,262 --> 00:36:23,637
Because if you can get
100 percent of California voters
668
00:36:23,639 --> 00:36:26,265
behind you that’s way better
than getting
669
00:36:26,267 --> 00:36:28,936
50.01 percent
of voters behind you.
670
00:36:29,771 --> 00:36:31,437
Likewise you can see republicans
671
00:36:31,439 --> 00:36:32,855
running out
to Houston and Dallas
672
00:36:32,857 --> 00:36:35,733
and promising the oil
interest anything they want.
673
00:36:35,735 --> 00:36:39,612
You’re now just chasing
a few ideas and policies
674
00:36:39,614 --> 00:36:41,282
in the most populated areas.
675
00:36:41,866 --> 00:36:45,659
Obviously in a system
without the Electoral College,
676
00:36:45,661 --> 00:36:48,454
you’re now going to start
promising positions of power
677
00:36:48,456 --> 00:36:50,124
in the bureaucracy in D.C.
678
00:36:50,625 --> 00:36:54,126
to whatever locations
get that president
679
00:36:54,128 --> 00:36:57,963
the national popular
vote majority that he needs.
680
00:36:57,965 --> 00:37:02,718
So can you imagine having
a system where the EPA director
681
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:06,639
is always going to go
to Los Angeles County
682
00:37:06,641 --> 00:37:08,265
because Los Angeles County
683
00:37:08,267 --> 00:37:11,437
is always going to deliver
10 million votes.
684
00:37:11,979 --> 00:37:14,688
Whoever wins that national
popular vote
685
00:37:14,690 --> 00:37:18,400
is going to be incentivized
to distribute the winnings
686
00:37:18,402 --> 00:37:21,320
if you will
and the strings of power
687
00:37:21,322 --> 00:37:24,283
to those few localities that
have resulted in them winning.
688
00:37:26,202 --> 00:37:29,956
Help make history and volunteer
689
00:37:30,498 --> 00:37:35,084
because this race is going
to be won on the ground
690
00:37:35,086 --> 00:37:38,671
and it’s going to be won
in Colorado and in lowa
691
00:37:38,673 --> 00:37:40,047
and in North Carolina
692
00:37:40,049 --> 00:37:43,175
and Virginia and Florida
and Pennsylvania
693
00:37:43,177 --> 00:37:45,219
and then we’re going
to the White House.
694
00:37:45,221 --> 00:37:49,140
Howard Dean took over the DNC
and his big push
695
00:37:49,142 --> 00:37:50,850
was a 50 state model
696
00:37:50,852 --> 00:37:53,018
where he was going
to focus on party
697
00:37:53,020 --> 00:37:55,189
building in each of
the 50 states.
698
00:37:56,149 --> 00:37:59,316
Now granted democrats
didn’t start competing closely
699
00:37:59,318 --> 00:38:03,573
in Texas or Georgia right away
but they are now.
700
00:38:04,824 --> 00:38:07,074
And I think that’s attributable
to Howard Dean
701
00:38:07,076 --> 00:38:09,785
really recognizing in a way
that other people
702
00:38:09,787 --> 00:38:12,665
didn’t that
a 50 state model works.
703
00:38:13,332 --> 00:38:16,208
And that a party that competes
across all of the 50 states
704
00:38:16,210 --> 00:38:18,671
and puts more states
in play wins more.
705
00:38:19,422 --> 00:38:20,880
My name is Stacy Abrams and I
706
00:38:20,882 --> 00:38:22,715
intend to be
the next governor of Georgia.
707
00:38:22,717 --> 00:38:23,966
You look at Georgia and Texas
708
00:38:23,968 --> 00:38:25,259
and how close those races
are becoming.
709
00:38:25,261 --> 00:38:27,094
I think you can trace
that back to the party
710
00:38:27,096 --> 00:38:28,679
building that was done
at that time.
711
00:38:28,681 --> 00:38:31,348
And I think the republicans
should play catch up now
712
00:38:31,350 --> 00:38:34,896
and focus on building up the
party apparatus in blue states.
713
00:38:35,521 --> 00:38:37,313
Honestly Trump
was the first candidate
714
00:38:37,315 --> 00:38:40,026
that took the upper
Midwest seriously.
715
00:38:40,735 --> 00:38:42,568
It’s because he had better data.
716
00:38:42,570 --> 00:38:45,696
The better data becomes
the more clear it will be
717
00:38:45,698 --> 00:38:48,201
that more states
are in play
718
00:38:48,242 --> 00:38:52,411
because you have a sense that
"oh these people are not as won over
719
00:38:52,413 --> 00:38:56,081
by the party that’s been winning
that state as you might suspect."
720
00:38:56,083 --> 00:38:58,167
So I think more states
are going to come out like that
721
00:38:58,169 --> 00:39:00,087
and I think 2016
was evidence of that.
722
00:39:00,630 --> 00:39:03,547
Without the Electoral College
the democratic party
723
00:39:03,549 --> 00:39:07,134
would be really tempted
to ignore a lot of Americans.
724
00:39:07,136 --> 00:39:09,178
That would be terrible
for democrats
725
00:39:09,180 --> 00:39:11,764
who live in places
frankly like Vermont. Right?
726
00:39:11,766 --> 00:39:13,849
I mean I think this is why
Howard Dean
727
00:39:13,851 --> 00:39:17,269
talked about a 50 state strategy
because Howard Dean did not want
728
00:39:17,271 --> 00:39:21,482
his democrats to be left behind
by the New York democrats,
729
00:39:21,484 --> 00:39:23,778
the LA democrats,
the Chicago democrats.
730
00:39:24,820 --> 00:39:26,987
The Electoral College in a way
is more important
731
00:39:26,989 --> 00:39:29,365
to the democratic party
than to anybody else
732
00:39:29,367 --> 00:39:32,993
because it forces them
not to become so insular,
733
00:39:32,995 --> 00:39:36,830
so urban centric that they
ignore the rest of the country.
734
00:39:36,832 --> 00:39:39,625
We’re still an extraordinarily
diverse country
735
00:39:39,627 --> 00:39:43,462
so it’s important for our system
of selecting the president
736
00:39:43,464 --> 00:39:45,297
to represent that diversity
737
00:39:45,299 --> 00:39:48,259
and in fact to enforce
candidates for office
738
00:39:48,261 --> 00:39:50,179
to experience
that diversity firsthand.
739
00:39:50,721 --> 00:39:52,846
That’s exactly what our
Electoral College does by
740
00:39:52,848 --> 00:39:55,891
in a way forcing presidents
to go out to every
741
00:39:55,893 --> 00:39:57,559
and each region of the country
742
00:39:57,561 --> 00:39:59,939
to fight out the election
in these swing states
743
00:40:00,481 --> 00:40:02,648
which we’re been fortunate
in every election
744
00:40:02,650 --> 00:40:05,359
to have many of them
spread across the country.
745
00:40:05,361 --> 00:40:07,111
It’s good for America
if the democrats
746
00:40:07,113 --> 00:40:09,780
have a 50 state strategy
and it’s good for America
747
00:40:09,782 --> 00:40:12,658
if the republicans
have a 50 state strategy.
748
00:40:12,660 --> 00:40:15,369
If we start ignoring people
and writing off huge swaths
749
00:40:15,371 --> 00:40:19,039
of the country
we are destroying our country.
750
00:40:19,041 --> 00:40:21,794
America
is not a one size fits all.
751
00:40:22,753 --> 00:40:27,631
Right? We have different values,
different thoughts, different beliefs.
752
00:40:27,633 --> 00:40:29,675
That’s why we have a system
of government
753
00:40:29,677 --> 00:40:32,928
where one political party
can win in one year
754
00:40:32,930 --> 00:40:36,181
and four years later it could be
a different political party.
755
00:40:36,183 --> 00:40:38,809
You can’t win the presidency
without urban voters.
756
00:40:38,811 --> 00:40:42,229
You can’t win the presidency
without rural voters.
757
00:40:42,231 --> 00:40:46,525
You can’t win the presidency without
minorities of every stripe.
758
00:40:46,527 --> 00:40:49,028
You can’t win the Electoral
College without that.
759
00:40:49,030 --> 00:40:51,864
If you throw that off and you
just had one national vote,
760
00:40:51,866 --> 00:40:56,076
all you need to do is win one
more vote than the next person.
761
00:40:56,078 --> 00:40:58,370
One of the keys to the
Electoral College’s success
762
00:40:58,372 --> 00:41:00,041
is we get competitive elections.
763
00:41:00,207 --> 00:41:03,000
So Barak Obama can win
the Electoral College
764
00:41:03,002 --> 00:41:05,419
and Donald Trump can win
the Electoral College
765
00:41:05,421 --> 00:41:08,213
and George Bush could win
the Electoral College
766
00:41:08,215 --> 00:41:11,133
and Bill Clinton
could win the Electoral College.
767
00:41:11,135 --> 00:41:13,552
That’s something
pretty cool about that.
768
00:41:13,554 --> 00:41:15,512
Right now 8:00 PM
on the east coast
769
00:41:15,514 --> 00:41:18,182
Connecticut seven electoral
votes for president.
770
00:41:18,184 --> 00:41:21,018
Delaware the president
will take three electoral votes.
771
00:41:21,020 --> 00:41:23,312
The District of Columbia,
Washington D.C.
772
00:41:23,314 --> 00:41:24,648
and it’s three electoral votes,
773
00:41:24,690 --> 00:41:28,067
his home state of Illinois
a big prize, 20 electoral votes.
774
00:41:28,069 --> 00:41:30,235
The president
also will take Maryland
775
00:41:30,237 --> 00:41:31,862
and it’s ten electoral votes,
776
00:41:31,864 --> 00:41:35,407
in Massachusetts
the home state of Mitt Romney,
777
00:41:35,409 --> 00:41:36,867
all 11 electoral votes.
778
00:41:36,869 --> 00:41:39,745
In Maine three of
the four electoral votes.
779
00:41:39,747 --> 00:41:42,289
Rhode Island
all four electoral votes.
780
00:41:42,291 --> 00:41:46,168
So you have to be more
than a narrow candidate.
781
00:41:46,170 --> 00:41:49,296
That’s fine in a congressional
election or a state election.
782
00:41:49,298 --> 00:41:51,217
But nationally
in a country like this
783
00:41:51,258 --> 00:41:54,760
which is a continental nation
the Electoral College
784
00:41:54,762 --> 00:41:56,430
ensures as much as possible
785
00:41:57,098 --> 00:42:00,226
that you put together
a national coalition.
786
00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:15,406
Another way that
the Electoral College
787
00:42:15,408 --> 00:42:18,452
works in the direction
of conferring legitimacy
788
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:21,956
is the way that it sustains
the two party system.
789
00:42:22,706 --> 00:42:26,127
We’ve had a two party system
since the 1790s.
790
00:42:26,877 --> 00:42:28,377
People in the
constitutional convention
791
00:42:28,379 --> 00:42:30,337
hadn’t envisioned a party system
792
00:42:30,339 --> 00:42:32,967
but the party system
did come into existence.
793
00:42:33,509 --> 00:42:35,551
One major reason
that it comes into existence
794
00:42:35,553 --> 00:42:37,138
is the Electoral College.
795
00:42:37,805 --> 00:42:40,307
Now sometimes we have had
third party candidates.
796
00:42:41,100 --> 00:42:43,183
There have been occasions
which we have even
797
00:42:43,185 --> 00:42:46,645
had a fourth party candidate,
maybe even a fifth.
798
00:42:46,647 --> 00:42:49,982
They tend to be very narrow
single issue kind of events
799
00:42:49,984 --> 00:42:51,442
and they’re often
quite ephemeral
800
00:42:51,444 --> 00:42:53,777
because they’re built
around personalities.
801
00:42:53,779 --> 00:42:56,488
The assumption I think is once
you eliminate
802
00:42:56,490 --> 00:42:57,823
the Electoral College
803
00:42:57,825 --> 00:43:00,077
that we will continue
to have two parties
804
00:43:01,078 --> 00:43:04,079
and so that will mean
that everyone who is a nominee
805
00:43:04,081 --> 00:43:05,289
of one of the major parties
806
00:43:05,291 --> 00:43:08,333
will come very close
to getting a majority
807
00:43:08,335 --> 00:43:11,503
if not a majority at least
very close to a majority
808
00:43:11,505 --> 00:43:14,258
but that’s not true.
Because once you eliminate
809
00:43:14,300 --> 00:43:16,800
the usefulness
of the Electoral College
810
00:43:16,802 --> 00:43:19,386
you go to a system where it’s
just the popular vote,
811
00:43:19,388 --> 00:43:22,681
you could have 12, 15,
20 parties.
812
00:43:22,683 --> 00:43:25,392
To get the majority
in the Electoral College
813
00:43:25,394 --> 00:43:28,520
you need to concentrate
people’s votes
814
00:43:28,522 --> 00:43:31,773
behind a limited number
of candidates.
815
00:43:31,775 --> 00:43:35,819
You can’t really elect
a candidate president
816
00:43:35,821 --> 00:43:38,739
who only brings in about
15 or 20 percent
817
00:43:38,741 --> 00:43:40,868
of the popular vote
in the states.
818
00:43:41,869 --> 00:43:43,744
If you have a direct popular
vote
819
00:43:43,746 --> 00:43:46,079
in which the person who just
gets the most votes wins
820
00:43:46,081 --> 00:43:47,414
and doesn’t have to have
a majority,
821
00:43:47,416 --> 00:43:49,208
just more than anybody else,
822
00:43:49,210 --> 00:43:51,877
this will encourage candidates
to stay in the race
823
00:43:51,879 --> 00:43:54,379
as long as they think
there’s any chance
824
00:43:54,381 --> 00:43:56,675
they can be the one
with the most votes.
825
00:43:57,301 --> 00:44:00,302
If you’re in a multi candidate,
a direct popular vote
826
00:44:00,304 --> 00:44:03,263
and you’re running third
with say 24 percent
827
00:44:03,265 --> 00:44:05,015
and the person in second has 28
828
00:44:05,017 --> 00:44:07,309
and the person in first
has 30 maybe you can catch him.
829
00:44:07,311 --> 00:44:09,102
Everybody stays in the race
830
00:44:09,104 --> 00:44:12,733
and you end up actually not
getting a clear, popular winner.
831
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,984
Because once you eliminate
the usefulness
832
00:44:15,986 --> 00:44:18,862
of the Electoral College
what happens
833
00:44:18,864 --> 00:44:22,032
is that everyone
will get into the game.
834
00:44:22,034 --> 00:44:24,076
We will have a lot of people
running
835
00:44:24,078 --> 00:44:27,996
for the pro-immigration party
and the anti-immigration party
836
00:44:27,998 --> 00:44:30,415
and the prochoice
and the prolife parties.
837
00:44:30,417 --> 00:44:32,960
In fact it would be
entirely possible
838
00:44:32,962 --> 00:44:36,588
that no one would even come
close when the outcome comes.
839
00:44:36,590 --> 00:44:40,092
And let’s assume
that in the end the person
840
00:44:40,094 --> 00:44:43,762
who is the prolife party
gets 23 percent of the vote
841
00:44:43,764 --> 00:44:46,765
and that happens to be
the highest percentage
842
00:44:46,767 --> 00:44:48,600
of anyone running.
843
00:44:48,602 --> 00:44:51,436
Well, then the voters
in New York and California
844
00:44:51,438 --> 00:44:55,732
and Illinois and Wisconsin
who voted for someone else
845
00:44:55,734 --> 00:44:59,111
entirely would find that they’ve
elected a president
846
00:44:59,113 --> 00:45:01,029
who is prolife.
847
00:45:01,031 --> 00:45:03,657
We would elect a president
on the basis of someone
848
00:45:03,659 --> 00:45:06,952
who comes in
with 25 percent of the vote
849
00:45:06,954 --> 00:45:10,499
over the candidates who came in
with 24 percent and 23 percent.
850
00:45:11,417 --> 00:45:13,000
Don’t you think the people
that got the 24
851
00:45:13,002 --> 00:45:16,213
and the 23 would make
a great deal of grief
852
00:45:16,755 --> 00:45:18,340
about a margin that narrow?
853
00:45:18,966 --> 00:45:21,552
Don’t you think that would cut
into the legitimacy
854
00:45:22,094 --> 00:45:23,844
of the candidate
with 25 percent?
855
00:45:23,846 --> 00:45:25,178
Of course it would.
856
00:45:25,180 --> 00:45:28,851
It would destabilize
the entire process of governing.
857
00:45:29,643 --> 00:45:31,059
The two party systems
858
00:45:31,061 --> 00:45:34,146
actually helps
to bind the nation together
859
00:45:34,148 --> 00:45:36,565
because if you have
democrats in Maine
860
00:45:36,567 --> 00:45:39,236
and democrats in Minnesota
and democrats in Oregon
861
00:45:40,154 --> 00:45:42,821
they’re still all democrats and
they communicate with each other
862
00:45:42,823 --> 00:45:46,325
and they support a common
set of candidates.
863
00:45:46,327 --> 00:45:49,202
Republicans in Florida,
republicans in Oklahoma,
864
00:45:49,204 --> 00:45:52,956
republicans in Michigan may all
be in those different states
865
00:45:52,958 --> 00:45:56,627
but they’re all lined up
behind a common platform
866
00:45:56,629 --> 00:45:58,045
and common candidates.
867
00:45:58,047 --> 00:46:03,091
And what this does, it tamps
down divisions within a nation
868
00:46:03,093 --> 00:46:06,219
and makes us realize that
although we may be from Michigan
869
00:46:06,221 --> 00:46:08,680
or Oklahoma
or Oregon fundamentally
870
00:46:08,682 --> 00:46:11,352
when we act politically
we’re acting as Americans.
871
00:46:12,144 --> 00:46:17,066
And that’s an important glue
for our national unity.
872
00:46:30,454 --> 00:46:32,371
With the Electoral
College system
873
00:46:32,373 --> 00:46:34,414
if you want to get elected,
874
00:46:34,416 --> 00:46:38,710
you want to attract a broad
spectrum of the American people.
875
00:46:38,712 --> 00:46:42,381
So that keeps people
who have very extreme views
876
00:46:42,383 --> 00:46:44,549
out of the presidential race.
877
00:46:44,551 --> 00:46:46,551
If you can win
the presidential race
878
00:46:46,553 --> 00:46:48,887
with just 25 percent of the vote
879
00:46:48,889 --> 00:46:51,139
then the kind of
extremist candidates
880
00:46:51,141 --> 00:46:53,769
that we don’t want to have
running the country
881
00:46:54,395 --> 00:46:56,772
might be able to win
the presidential election.
882
00:46:57,523 --> 00:46:58,939
Without the Electoral College
883
00:46:58,941 --> 00:47:01,692
there’s no longer
any motivation to compromise.
884
00:47:01,694 --> 00:47:05,195
The attitude becomes my 18
percent beat your 17 percent
885
00:47:05,197 --> 00:47:07,197
so I really don’t care
what you think.
886
00:47:07,199 --> 00:47:11,576
And what you see in those
situations is extremists
887
00:47:11,578 --> 00:47:15,664
tend to be rewarded because they
no longer have to tone down.
888
00:47:15,666 --> 00:47:17,582
They no longer
have to work with others.
889
00:47:17,584 --> 00:47:19,253
And so extreme positions
890
00:47:19,795 --> 00:47:23,088
can have a lot more influence
on the process.
891
00:47:23,090 --> 00:47:25,298
We have a bifurcated system.
892
00:47:25,300 --> 00:47:27,342
There is a left
and a right in the country.
893
00:47:27,344 --> 00:47:31,096
But within the left
and within the right
894
00:47:31,098 --> 00:47:34,558
we also have a variety
of different positions.
895
00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:37,811
This big tent approach
to American politics
896
00:47:37,813 --> 00:47:41,606
is extremely important
because it’s not just diversity.
897
00:47:41,608 --> 00:47:45,986
It’s also a concern
with avoiding extreme politics.
898
00:47:45,988 --> 00:47:47,904
And so some scholars
have called it
899
00:47:47,906 --> 00:47:51,074
the dangerous factions
that could develop
900
00:47:51,076 --> 00:47:55,370
if appeals to extremism
were allowed to be made
901
00:47:55,372 --> 00:47:58,125
in terms of making a successful
run for the presidency.
902
00:47:58,667 --> 00:48:01,835
And so one of the virtues
is not only the reduction
903
00:48:01,837 --> 00:48:03,420
in the number of candidates.
904
00:48:03,422 --> 00:48:05,714
But what that does is it forces
the candidates
905
00:48:05,716 --> 00:48:09,176
to make broad brush appeals
to satisfy a variety
906
00:48:09,178 --> 00:48:12,222
of sometimes conflicting
interests in constituencies.
907
00:48:12,848 --> 00:48:14,475
Even when you have one party
908
00:48:15,309 --> 00:48:18,226
which scores a complete sweep
in an election,
909
00:48:18,228 --> 00:48:19,978
wins the White House,
wins the senate,
910
00:48:19,980 --> 00:48:21,690
wins the house
of representatives,
911
00:48:23,108 --> 00:48:24,733
what you have afterwards
912
00:48:24,735 --> 00:48:29,321
is not a single monochrome
point of view.
913
00:48:29,323 --> 00:48:32,449
What you have is the victory
of a national coalition.
914
00:48:32,451 --> 00:48:33,992
What you have to have is a party
915
00:48:33,994 --> 00:48:37,078
then which starts talking within
itself and saying all right.
916
00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:38,705
If we’re going to govern at all
917
00:48:38,707 --> 00:48:40,959
we’ve got to arrive
at some averages here.
918
00:48:41,835 --> 00:48:44,669
The two party system mandates
919
00:48:44,671 --> 00:48:47,255
that they start
shaving off the extremes
920
00:48:47,257 --> 00:48:51,009
and come down to the averages.
They come down to the averages
921
00:48:51,011 --> 00:48:52,344
because they’re
a two party system
922
00:48:52,346 --> 00:48:55,222
and they’re a two party system
in very large measure
923
00:48:55,224 --> 00:48:57,808
because the Electoral College
pushes us,
924
00:48:57,810 --> 00:49:03,482
nudges us in that direction
and a main stream appears.
925
00:49:04,066 --> 00:49:08,570
And what you get then
is a stable democracy.
926
00:49:20,374 --> 00:49:22,626
Here’s what people seem not
to understand.
927
00:49:23,210 --> 00:49:27,045
The world that will exist in a
post Electoral College America
928
00:49:27,047 --> 00:49:29,214
are five billionaires
and a bunch
929
00:49:29,216 --> 00:49:31,675
of multi-millionaires running
for president
930
00:49:31,677 --> 00:49:34,219
trying to be as extreme
as necessary
931
00:49:34,221 --> 00:49:36,096
without alienating enough people
932
00:49:36,098 --> 00:49:39,474
so that they can get a small
sliver of the tranche of voters
933
00:49:39,476 --> 00:49:42,269
necessary to get elected
president of the United States.
934
00:49:42,271 --> 00:49:45,480
That’s where one candidate
935
00:49:45,482 --> 00:49:48,775
who can significantly outspend
the other candidates
936
00:49:48,777 --> 00:49:52,404
could really make a difference
in being able to win an election
937
00:49:52,406 --> 00:49:57,492
particularly because these days
a very large percentage
938
00:49:57,494 --> 00:49:58,910
of the American people
939
00:49:58,912 --> 00:50:01,957
living in a very small number
of media markets.
940
00:50:02,499 --> 00:50:05,500
And that is where having
a lot of money,
941
00:50:05,502 --> 00:50:08,753
being able to buy media
in the big,
942
00:50:08,755 --> 00:50:12,424
dense urban cities
could really make the difference
943
00:50:12,426 --> 00:50:15,220
in changing the results
of a presidential election.
944
00:50:15,929 --> 00:50:21,141
I don’t think that big money
ought to be able
945
00:50:21,143 --> 00:50:22,976
to buy our elections.
946
00:50:22,978 --> 00:50:26,438
And that’s’ true whether we’re
talking about billionaires
947
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:27,939
or corporate executive
948
00:50:27,941 --> 00:50:31,776
that fund pacts
or big lobbyists.
949
00:50:31,778 --> 00:50:35,280
Tonight we say
to Michael Bloomberg
950
00:50:35,282 --> 00:50:37,618
and other billionaires sorry,
951
00:50:38,785 --> 00:50:41,620
you ain’t going to buy
this election.
952
00:50:41,622 --> 00:50:45,290
And what the Electoral College
does is the last fortress
953
00:50:45,292 --> 00:50:48,710
if you will to hold
back individuals
954
00:50:48,712 --> 00:50:49,961
that think that they can come in
955
00:50:49,963 --> 00:50:53,298
and buy our republic,
buy our vote.
956
00:50:53,300 --> 00:50:55,510
So the billionaires of the world
957
00:50:55,552 --> 00:50:58,261
certainly have the resources
individually to run
958
00:50:58,263 --> 00:51:01,348
that can make it
much easier for a candidate
959
00:51:01,350 --> 00:51:05,977
to cerate the staff
and the advertising revenue
960
00:51:05,979 --> 00:51:08,355
that would allow them
to have greater success
961
00:51:08,357 --> 00:51:10,607
on the national popular
vote scale
962
00:51:10,609 --> 00:51:13,526
than they go on the
national scale we have now
963
00:51:13,528 --> 00:51:16,947
where you have to appeal to
different state constituencies.
964
00:51:16,949 --> 00:51:19,282
Michael Bloomberg says
he is ready to run.
965
00:51:19,284 --> 00:51:23,411
But he plans to skip the first
four 2020 democratic contests.
966
00:51:23,413 --> 00:51:25,038
That’s a risky strategy.
967
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:28,083
If you really analyzed somebody
like Mike Bloomberg
968
00:51:28,085 --> 00:51:30,627
who is a billionaires,
$55 billions,
969
00:51:30,629 --> 00:51:33,672
he can spend $5 billion
and not blink.
970
00:51:33,674 --> 00:51:35,840
But he can’t buy the election
971
00:51:35,842 --> 00:51:37,884
because he has to be able
to win the primary
972
00:51:37,886 --> 00:51:40,345
because that’s the only way he’s
going to have a viable chance.
973
00:51:40,347 --> 00:51:41,638
And the reason that’s
the only way
974
00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:42,889
he’s going to have
a viable chance
975
00:51:42,891 --> 00:51:45,767
is because…wait for it,
the Electoral College. Right?
976
00:51:45,769 --> 00:51:47,018
So when you have a scenario
977
00:51:47,020 --> 00:51:49,646
where you have removed
the Electoral College
978
00:51:49,648 --> 00:51:52,691
now he no longer has to even
engage in the primary process.
979
00:51:52,693 --> 00:51:55,860
He can simply go directly
to the general election
980
00:51:55,862 --> 00:51:58,863
and talk about how do I get
the most amount of votes
981
00:51:58,865 --> 00:52:00,865
that get me to the place
where I need to be.
982
00:52:00,867 --> 00:52:02,534
It’s not about a majority.
983
00:52:02,536 --> 00:52:05,038
It’s about finding a way
to game the system
984
00:52:05,539 --> 00:52:07,330
in a way that allows his voice
985
00:52:07,332 --> 00:52:09,084
and his money
to speak the loudest.
986
00:52:09,751 --> 00:52:11,668
He spent over $500 million.
987
00:52:11,670 --> 00:52:14,379
That was just on TV
and radio ads alone.
988
00:52:14,381 --> 00:52:16,881
You add in the digital adds.
You add in the staff,
989
00:52:16,883 --> 00:52:18,883
the offices,
the million dollar couches.
990
00:52:18,885 --> 00:52:23,263
The total is likely well over
$600 million making it far
991
00:52:23,265 --> 00:52:27,934
and away the most expensive self-financed
campaign ever in US politics.
992
00:52:27,936 --> 00:52:30,520
He spent more than twice
the combined totals of Trump,
993
00:52:30,522 --> 00:52:32,397
Sanders, Buttigieg,
Warren and Biden.
994
00:52:32,399 --> 00:52:35,525
His spending worked out
to $7 million a day
995
00:52:35,527 --> 00:52:37,235
since he announced
that run in November
996
00:52:37,237 --> 00:52:40,905
or just under
$300,000.00 per hour.
997
00:52:40,907 --> 00:52:43,491
If your concern is money
in politics
998
00:52:43,493 --> 00:52:45,368
then getting rid
of the Electoral College
999
00:52:45,370 --> 00:52:48,288
doesn’t diminish the impact
of money in politics.
1000
00:52:48,290 --> 00:52:51,293
It amplifies it in ways you
cannot even begin to comprehend.
1001
00:53:02,888 --> 00:53:07,309
The certified result in
the presidential race in Florida
1002
00:53:07,726 --> 00:53:09,434
is as follows.
1003
00:53:09,436 --> 00:53:15,442
Governor George
W Bush 2,912,790.
1004
00:53:15,650 --> 00:53:22,365
Vice President Al
Gore 2,912,253.
1005
00:53:26,578 --> 00:53:31,122
Accordingly on behalf
of the state elections
1006
00:53:31,124 --> 00:53:32,751
canvasing commission
1007
00:53:34,461 --> 00:53:37,214
and in accordance with the laws
of the state of Florida
1008
00:53:37,798 --> 00:53:41,257
I hereby declare
Governor George W Bush
1009
00:53:41,259 --> 00:53:44,677
the winner of Florida’s
25 electoral votes
1010
00:53:44,679 --> 00:53:46,807
for the president
of the United States.
1011
00:53:50,811 --> 00:53:53,186
I think we all remember seeing
those pictures
1012
00:53:53,188 --> 00:53:56,731
of the vote recount,
of the hanging, dimpled,
1013
00:53:56,733 --> 00:53:58,360
pimpled,
pregnant swinging ______
1014
00:53:59,361 --> 00:54:02,114
and seeing all the different
cases in the counties.
1015
00:54:02,781 --> 00:54:05,323
But the interesting thing
is as bad as that was,
1016
00:54:05,325 --> 00:54:08,118
as much as the entire nation
was holding its breath
1017
00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:09,452
and waiting to see
what happened,
1018
00:54:09,454 --> 00:54:11,373
as many law suits as there were,
1019
00:54:12,165 --> 00:54:14,668
that was really just about
one important state.
1020
00:54:15,252 --> 00:54:18,171
If we had had a national popular
vote system in place
1021
00:54:18,797 --> 00:54:23,550
rather than having a chaotic
contentious recount in Florida
1022
00:54:23,552 --> 00:54:26,511
we would have had
a contentious chaotic recount
1023
00:54:26,513 --> 00:54:28,598
in every state in the country.
1024
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:31,182
So once you have more potential
for recounts
1025
00:54:31,184 --> 00:54:33,768
you also have the potential
for greater fraud.
1026
00:54:33,770 --> 00:54:38,523
And so efforts on the national
popular vote to encourage fraud
1027
00:54:38,525 --> 00:54:40,191
would certainly be incentivized
1028
00:54:40,193 --> 00:54:42,694
because it would
potentially be more difficult
1029
00:54:42,696 --> 00:54:44,906
to reveal the fraud
on the national scale.
1030
00:54:45,532 --> 00:54:47,949
And the easiest place for fraud
to be committed
1031
00:54:47,951 --> 00:54:50,785
is in jurisdictions
are controlled by one party
1032
00:54:50,787 --> 00:54:54,205
because the other party isn’t
there to have poll watchers,
1033
00:54:54,207 --> 00:54:55,456
to have poll workers,
1034
00:54:55,458 --> 00:54:58,543
to basically have a system
where the two parties
1035
00:54:58,545 --> 00:55:00,463
are keeping
an eagle eye on each other.
1036
00:55:01,047 --> 00:55:03,882
And unfortunately with
a national popular vote system
1037
00:55:03,884 --> 00:55:06,551
it would be an incentive
to commit fraud
1038
00:55:06,553 --> 00:55:09,347
and try to change
the outcome of elections.
1039
00:55:10,807 --> 00:55:14,394
You would need tens of thousands
of agents at each polling place.
1040
00:55:15,145 --> 00:55:17,314
You could say well,
I live in Philadelphia.
1041
00:55:17,981 --> 00:55:19,522
And you could go
to Wilmington, Delaware
1042
00:55:19,524 --> 00:55:21,651
and say I live
in Wilmington, Delaware.
1043
00:55:22,235 --> 00:55:25,570
You couldn’t have polls
close at different times.
1044
00:55:25,572 --> 00:55:28,950
You’d have to have them uniform
as they do in Canada and Europe
1045
00:55:28,992 --> 00:55:31,492
because they don’t want
early voting in one part
1046
00:55:31,494 --> 00:55:32,744
or section of the country
1047
00:55:32,746 --> 00:55:34,748
influencing another part
of the section.
1048
00:55:35,290 --> 00:55:37,415
The 50 states have
very different rules.
1049
00:55:37,417 --> 00:55:40,670
Half of them require a drivers
license to vote, half don’t.
1050
00:55:41,338 --> 00:55:43,630
Some have mail in ballots
and some don’t.
1051
00:55:43,632 --> 00:55:46,507
Some allow for early voting
and others don’t.
1052
00:55:46,509 --> 00:55:48,927
Some go from 6:00 AM
to 6:00 PM.
1053
00:55:48,929 --> 00:55:52,263
Others go from 6:00 AM
to 10:00 PM, etcetera.
1054
00:55:52,265 --> 00:55:55,725
We would have all kinds
of equal protection problems
1055
00:55:55,727 --> 00:55:57,518
because we’d have
different rules.
1056
00:55:57,520 --> 00:55:58,770
You would have to figure out
1057
00:55:58,772 --> 00:56:00,647
how are we going
to run that election
1058
00:56:00,649 --> 00:56:02,357
and I think that means
you would have to have
1059
00:56:02,359 --> 00:56:05,610
a single national standard
by which everybody voted.
1060
00:56:05,612 --> 00:56:07,028
Now that may sound
fairly attractive.
1061
00:56:07,030 --> 00:56:08,238
Why not?
1062
00:56:08,240 --> 00:56:10,782
Until again you consider
that this is a very large,
1063
00:56:10,784 --> 00:56:13,576
enormous country with great
geographic differences
1064
00:56:13,578 --> 00:56:15,787
between different states,
difference demographics
1065
00:56:15,789 --> 00:56:17,997
and so on.
What makes sense for one state
1066
00:56:17,999 --> 00:56:19,793
doesn’t make sense
for every other.
1067
00:56:20,377 --> 00:56:24,629
And then you would have
to have much more control
1068
00:56:24,631 --> 00:56:26,549
by the federal government.
Ah.
1069
00:56:28,134 --> 00:56:29,968
Control by
the federal government,
1070
00:56:29,970 --> 00:56:32,472
eliminating the involvement
of the states.
1071
00:56:33,056 --> 00:56:35,473
Now you would have accomplished
1072
00:56:35,475 --> 00:56:38,726
exactly what the framers
tried to avoid.
1073
00:56:38,728 --> 00:56:41,189
You would put control
in one place
1074
00:56:42,649 --> 00:56:45,191
and how are you going
to stop the corruption there,
1075
00:56:45,193 --> 00:56:47,026
whichever party it is.
1076
00:56:47,028 --> 00:56:49,529
Without the Electoral College
the federal government
1077
00:56:49,531 --> 00:56:51,990
would have to take more
control over elections
1078
00:56:51,992 --> 00:56:54,325
which means that
presidential appointees
1079
00:56:54,327 --> 00:56:56,744
would wind up running
presidential elections. Right?
1080
00:56:56,746 --> 00:56:59,580
Barack Obama’s people
would have been in charge
1081
00:56:59,582 --> 00:57:01,749
of Barack Obama’s reelection.
1082
00:57:01,751 --> 00:57:03,626
Donald Trump’s people
would be in charge
1083
00:57:03,628 --> 00:57:05,837
of Donald Trump’s reelection.
Right?
1084
00:57:05,839 --> 00:57:08,339
The Electoral College
pushes that power
1085
00:57:08,341 --> 00:57:11,259
out of Washington D.C.
down into the states.
1086
00:57:11,261 --> 00:57:14,178
States run elections,
states are in charge.
1087
00:57:14,180 --> 00:57:17,598
It’s distributed. No one state
controls the outcome.
1088
00:57:17,600 --> 00:57:20,852
Instead it’s up to 51
different jurisdictions
1089
00:57:20,854 --> 00:57:22,353
to run that election.
1090
00:57:22,355 --> 00:57:24,522
There’s a mechanism
for what happens
1091
00:57:24,524 --> 00:57:27,692
if it’s too close to call
in a particular state,
1092
00:57:27,694 --> 00:57:30,155
not if it’s too close
to call across the country.
1093
00:57:30,864 --> 00:57:34,365
This would create
quite simply chaos.
1094
00:57:34,367 --> 00:57:36,993
And it would throw
any election like that
1095
00:57:36,995 --> 00:57:39,078
and I think that it would be
far more common
1096
00:57:39,080 --> 00:57:42,290
that you would have these sorts
of elections to the courts.
1097
00:57:42,292 --> 00:57:44,127
The stakes are enormously high.
1098
00:57:44,794 --> 00:57:48,880
And so we would have litigation
after such disputed elections
1099
00:57:48,882 --> 00:57:52,091
which could go on
for months or even years.
1100
00:57:52,093 --> 00:57:54,721
Meanwhile the country
would not have a president.
1101
00:57:55,221 --> 00:57:58,931
The president is essentially
the foreign policy
1102
00:57:58,933 --> 00:58:00,933
representative of the nation.
1103
00:58:00,935 --> 00:58:03,561
And so if you have
an ongoing problem
1104
00:58:03,563 --> 00:58:06,647
and other countries
rely upon our decisions
1105
00:58:06,649 --> 00:58:08,816
in terms of making
their own decisions,
1106
00:58:08,818 --> 00:58:11,903
so delays on who will
be making policy,
1107
00:58:11,905 --> 00:58:16,324
the uncertainty of it would be
potentially disastrous in terms
1108
00:58:16,326 --> 00:58:20,828
of how other nations respond to
America’s presence in the world.
1109
00:58:20,830 --> 00:58:23,456
It would have ripple effects
throughout the globe.
1110
00:58:23,458 --> 00:58:26,169
This would be catastrophic
if we go months,
1111
00:58:27,087 --> 00:58:30,338
potentially years
with court battles.
1112
00:58:30,340 --> 00:58:32,382
Who imagines today
with the divisions
1113
00:58:32,384 --> 00:58:33,800
that we have
in the United States
1114
00:58:33,802 --> 00:58:36,761
that either side is going
to capitulate and just say ok.
1115
00:58:36,763 --> 00:58:38,763
You win.
We’ll lay down our swords.
1116
00:58:38,765 --> 00:58:40,431
We’ll stop fighting?
1117
00:58:40,433 --> 00:58:42,225
Imagine what happens
in the stock market.
1118
00:58:42,227 --> 00:58:44,435
Imagine what happens
in the economy.
1119
00:58:44,437 --> 00:58:47,774
What kind of a situation
are we asking for?
1120
00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:50,483
Well, direct popular election.
1121
00:58:50,485 --> 00:58:54,322
While it sounds great,
while it sounds very democratic
1122
00:58:55,156 --> 00:58:57,990
also carries within it
the seeds of many problems
1123
00:58:57,992 --> 00:59:00,787
that the founders
rescued us from.
1124
00:59:13,466 --> 00:59:16,467
You know sometimes you hear
people say well,
1125
00:59:16,469 --> 00:59:18,344
whoever wins the popular vote
should win.
1126
00:59:18,346 --> 00:59:19,971
And if there’s more people
in the cities
1127
00:59:19,973 --> 00:59:21,389
if they win the popular vote
1128
00:59:21,391 --> 00:59:24,642
then that’s just the way it is
and who cares about the farmers.
1129
00:59:24,644 --> 00:59:27,061
There is no other segment
of society
1130
00:59:27,063 --> 00:59:28,479
that we would just look at them
1131
00:59:28,481 --> 00:59:30,356
and say your needs
are unimportant.
1132
00:59:30,358 --> 00:59:31,649
We can outvote you.
1133
00:59:31,651 --> 00:59:34,986
We don’t strive
for simple bare majorities
1134
00:59:34,988 --> 00:59:36,946
and then just tell
everybody else tough.
1135
00:59:36,948 --> 00:59:39,365
It doesn’t matter.
What we are striving for
1136
00:59:39,367 --> 00:59:40,741
and what
the constitution sets up
1137
00:59:40,743 --> 00:59:43,995
and what our founders wanted
is justice and fairness
1138
00:59:43,997 --> 00:59:45,582
and protection of liberty.
1139
00:59:47,417 --> 00:59:49,709
Sometimes we hear
a serious objection
1140
00:59:49,711 --> 00:59:51,919
to the Electoral College
lodged on the grounds
1141
00:59:51,921 --> 00:59:53,212
that the Electoral College
1142
00:59:53,214 --> 00:59:56,007
was designed by
the constitutional convention
1143
00:59:56,009 --> 00:59:57,300
to protect slavery.
1144
00:59:57,302 --> 00:59:59,262
And the reasoning
runs like this.
1145
01:00:00,180 --> 01:00:02,847
The Electoral College
is composed of representatives
1146
01:00:02,849 --> 01:00:07,226
from every state based
on your number of members
1147
01:00:07,228 --> 01:00:10,813
in the house of representatives
and your number of senators.
1148
01:00:10,815 --> 01:00:13,232
Well, isn’t that a revelation?
1149
01:00:13,234 --> 01:00:16,777
Because in that case that means
that
1150
01:00:16,779 --> 01:00:19,991
for the purpose of
representation southern states
1151
01:00:20,533 --> 01:00:22,158
could count their slaves,
1152
01:00:22,160 --> 01:00:24,660
slaves who otherwise
were not permitted any voice
1153
01:00:24,662 --> 01:00:27,330
on the political process
towards their representatives
1154
01:00:27,332 --> 01:00:29,874
and those representatives
would therefore pile up
1155
01:00:29,876 --> 01:00:31,417
in the Electoral College
1156
01:00:31,419 --> 01:00:34,003
and there would be
an artificial bonus
1157
01:00:34,005 --> 01:00:36,714
given to slaveholding states
to cast votes
1158
01:00:36,716 --> 01:00:39,467
in favor of proslavery policies.
1159
01:00:39,469 --> 01:00:42,053
And thus the Electoral College
is designed to operate
1160
01:00:42,055 --> 01:00:45,431
by the constitutional convention
for the interests of slavery
1161
01:00:45,433 --> 01:00:48,061
and a great a-ha moment
erupts at that point.
1162
01:00:48,895 --> 01:00:51,521
The difficulty is that it is
an a-ha moment
1163
01:00:51,523 --> 01:00:53,397
with no air in the balloon.
1164
01:00:53,399 --> 01:00:58,611
In 1787 all of the states,
not just the southern states,
1165
01:00:58,613 --> 01:01:02,450
excepting alone
Massachusetts legalized slavery.
1166
01:01:03,409 --> 01:01:07,912
There was no bonus paid
by the Electoral College
1167
01:01:07,914 --> 01:01:11,082
to slave owning states
versus free states.
1168
01:01:11,084 --> 01:01:13,251
All the states enjoyed
that bonus.
1169
01:01:13,253 --> 01:01:15,753
The largest slave holding state
in the union in 1787
1170
01:01:15,755 --> 01:01:17,129
was Virginia.
1171
01:01:17,131 --> 01:01:20,510
The largest northern slave
holding state New York.
1172
01:01:21,219 --> 01:01:23,928
The three fifths compromise
is not created
1173
01:01:23,930 --> 01:01:25,972
for the Electoral College.
1174
01:01:25,974 --> 01:01:28,601
It is created for the house
of representatives.
1175
01:01:28,643 --> 01:01:30,268
And the founders needs
to figure out
1176
01:01:30,270 --> 01:01:33,437
how do you represent
the people and the states.
1177
01:01:33,439 --> 01:01:35,731
Well, already built
into the system
1178
01:01:35,733 --> 01:01:38,442
is the representation
for the house,
1179
01:01:38,444 --> 01:01:40,113
the representation
for the senate.
1180
01:01:40,697 --> 01:01:44,282
All they do is say that math
has already been vetted.
1181
01:01:44,284 --> 01:01:46,701
It has already been
through the compromise.
1182
01:01:46,703 --> 01:01:49,036
The north is agreeing with it.
The south agrees with it.
1183
01:01:49,038 --> 01:01:50,830
The west and the east agree
with it.
1184
01:01:50,832 --> 01:01:53,416
We agree with that.
That is the great compromise.
1185
01:01:53,418 --> 01:01:55,751
We will build that
into the presidency.
1186
01:01:55,753 --> 01:01:59,130
When the Electoral College
is finally determined upon
1187
01:01:59,132 --> 01:02:01,382
as a mechanism
for electing the president
1188
01:02:01,384 --> 01:02:05,678
the question of slavery never
entered into the consideration
1189
01:02:05,680 --> 01:02:08,055
because it wouldn’t have had
any application.
1190
01:02:08,057 --> 01:02:10,600
There was no
Electoral College advantage
1191
01:02:10,602 --> 01:02:11,809
for slaveholding states
1192
01:02:11,811 --> 01:02:15,523
because in 1787 they were
all slaveholding states.
1193
01:02:16,149 --> 01:02:19,525
25 years later that’s going to
change as northern states one
1194
01:02:19,527 --> 01:02:23,321
by one move into
the non-slaveholding column.
1195
01:02:23,323 --> 01:02:25,406
But the members of
the constitutional convention
1196
01:02:25,408 --> 01:02:29,535
weren’t writing the constitution
with a view towards saying a-ha.
1197
01:02:29,537 --> 01:02:32,496
25 years from now we know
that there will be a bonus
1198
01:02:32,498 --> 01:02:34,707
for slaveholding states
in the Electoral College.
1199
01:02:34,709 --> 01:02:36,834
Well, yes there was
but it was a temporary
1200
01:02:36,836 --> 01:02:39,295
one already ebbing away
1201
01:02:39,297 --> 01:02:42,381
by the time Abraham Lincoln
is elected.
1202
01:02:42,383 --> 01:02:45,843
Proponents of that argument
have decided that
1203
01:02:45,845 --> 01:02:49,180
if they tarnish the institution
of the Electoral College
1204
01:02:49,182 --> 01:02:50,514
with racism
1205
01:02:50,516 --> 01:02:52,683
then that automatically means
it is suspect
1206
01:02:52,685 --> 01:02:55,853
and needs to be replaced.
But it’s just ahistorical.
1207
01:02:55,855 --> 01:02:58,858
It’s not really accurate and
it’s not really honest frankly.
1208
01:03:00,068 --> 01:03:02,902
Charging the Electoral College
as an institution
1209
01:03:02,904 --> 01:03:06,656
for slavery
really delegitimizes the plight
1210
01:03:06,658 --> 01:03:08,826
of African Americans
for generations.
1211
01:03:09,535 --> 01:03:11,621
But it also completely
ignores history.
1212
01:03:12,246 --> 01:03:14,538
If you look at the kinds
of people
1213
01:03:14,540 --> 01:03:16,376
that were advancing the causes
1214
01:03:16,959 --> 01:03:19,168
what did people
like Fredrick Douglas say?
1215
01:03:19,170 --> 01:03:23,673
They said that ultimately these
systems actually were helping
1216
01:03:23,675 --> 01:03:26,092
bring
about the freedom of slaves,
1217
01:03:26,094 --> 01:03:28,344
that there were resulting
in the ability
1218
01:03:28,346 --> 01:03:31,557
for slaves to overcome
their oppressors in the south.
1219
01:03:32,225 --> 01:03:35,976
Yes, nobody can argue that
some of the founders had slaves.
1220
01:03:35,978 --> 01:03:41,148
Some of them didn’t. Slavery was
very common in our world.
1221
01:03:41,150 --> 01:03:44,360
It was wrong but it was
the United States of America
1222
01:03:44,362 --> 01:03:47,029
that actually created a system
that ultimately
1223
01:03:47,031 --> 01:03:50,074
resulted in it being eradicated.
1224
01:03:50,076 --> 01:03:52,284
And now guess what?
People that look like me
1225
01:03:52,286 --> 01:03:54,620
aren’t considered
three fifths of a human being.
1226
01:03:54,622 --> 01:03:56,997
People that look like me
have the ability to vote.
1227
01:03:56,999 --> 01:04:00,668
Black people are now fully
vested members of society
1228
01:04:00,670 --> 01:04:03,337
in spite of the inequalities
that we still face today.
1229
01:04:03,339 --> 01:04:06,382
When we’re talking about do you
have the right to vote
1230
01:04:06,384 --> 01:04:08,594
the Electoral College
has no bearing on that.
1231
01:04:09,220 --> 01:04:11,178
So for example if you think
about it,
1232
01:04:11,180 --> 01:04:12,930
there’s about 130 million people
1233
01:04:12,932 --> 01:04:15,184
that voted in the last
presidential election.
1234
01:04:15,768 --> 01:04:19,061
Of that 130 million the number
is about 30 –
1235
01:04:19,063 --> 01:04:21,480
35 million minorities.
1236
01:04:21,482 --> 01:04:23,067
If you move to a system
where you eliminate
1237
01:04:23,109 --> 01:04:26,652
the Electoral College literally
the United States of America
1238
01:04:26,654 --> 01:04:30,281
could be won at one time
by just white people.
1239
01:04:30,283 --> 01:04:33,409
That’s hardly a system
that promotes the diversity
1240
01:04:33,411 --> 01:04:36,120
that exists
not just among races,
1241
01:04:36,122 --> 01:04:37,455
not just among preferences
1242
01:04:37,457 --> 01:04:41,459
about what partners people
want to have but also in careers
1243
01:04:41,461 --> 01:04:43,043
and how people want
to make their living.
1244
01:04:43,045 --> 01:04:46,255
The Electoral College
forces people to sort of
1245
01:04:46,257 --> 01:04:48,299
make the compromise as necessary
1246
01:04:48,301 --> 01:04:51,260
to not just appeal
to a couple of big blocks
1247
01:04:51,262 --> 01:04:54,766
but to take into account
these smaller blocks of voters.
1248
01:04:55,433 --> 01:04:56,807
I mean that’s very similar
to a point
1249
01:04:56,809 --> 01:05:00,186
that Vernon Jordan
was making in the late 1970s.
1250
01:05:00,188 --> 01:05:03,606
The Electoral College ensures
that racial minorities
1251
01:05:03,608 --> 01:05:07,860
have representation by being
sort of the tipping point
1252
01:05:07,862 --> 01:05:11,113
in a number of states
and are able to influence
1253
01:05:11,115 --> 01:05:14,494
which direction
that state’s electoral votes go.
1254
01:05:15,495 --> 01:05:19,580
What purpose would there be
for a candidate to appeal
1255
01:05:19,582 --> 01:05:23,002
to the interests
of African American voters
1256
01:05:23,044 --> 01:05:26,420
in a national popular vote
African American voters amount
1257
01:05:26,422 --> 01:05:28,923
to only seven percent
of those casting votes.
1258
01:05:28,925 --> 01:05:30,800
Not really all that significant
1259
01:05:30,802 --> 01:05:33,888
so you pay no attention
to African American voters.
1260
01:05:34,806 --> 01:05:36,055
In the Electoral College system
1261
01:05:36,057 --> 01:05:39,225
you do have to pay attention
to African American voters
1262
01:05:39,227 --> 01:05:44,438
because in a number of key swing
states African American voters
1263
01:05:44,440 --> 01:05:47,441
are an important component
of the voting public
1264
01:05:47,443 --> 01:05:51,111
and you had better have
something important to say,
1265
01:05:51,113 --> 01:05:54,573
for African American voters
to hear or you lose their votes.
1266
01:05:54,575 --> 01:05:56,534
And you lose their votes
you lose that state.
1267
01:05:56,536 --> 01:05:59,620
You lose that swing state,
you lose the Electoral College.
1268
01:05:59,622 --> 01:06:02,790
If you’re a candidate
for president it is impossible
1269
01:06:02,792 --> 01:06:05,751
to get elected president without
black people voting for you.
1270
01:06:05,753 --> 01:06:07,753
Now you can say the republicans
have won elections
1271
01:06:07,755 --> 01:06:10,422
but they have found ways to get
black people to vote for them.
1272
01:06:10,424 --> 01:06:12,716
Not a lot but enough.
Right?
1273
01:06:12,718 --> 01:06:15,052
You cannot get elected president
of the United States
1274
01:06:15,054 --> 01:06:17,429
without support
in the Latino community.
1275
01:06:17,431 --> 01:06:18,722
You can say well,
1276
01:06:18,724 --> 01:06:21,725
republicans haven’t gotten
a lot of Latino support.
1277
01:06:21,727 --> 01:06:24,103
But guess what?
They have gotten enough.
1278
01:06:24,105 --> 01:06:26,605
And so when you take away
the Electoral College.
1279
01:06:26,607 --> 01:06:28,649
When you create a scenario
1280
01:06:28,651 --> 01:06:30,901
where people can get elected
president of the United States
1281
01:06:30,903 --> 01:06:34,738
without a single vote cast in
their name by a single minority
1282
01:06:34,740 --> 01:06:37,408
that is the reality
that we need to be facing.
1283
01:06:37,410 --> 01:06:39,910
So if you’re sitting here
saying that it is right
1284
01:06:39,912 --> 01:06:41,370
for someone to get elected
1285
01:06:41,372 --> 01:06:44,582
who hates minorities
abjectly and concretely well,
1286
01:06:44,584 --> 01:06:47,501
then you should be terrified
of an America
1287
01:06:47,503 --> 01:06:49,505
that does not have
an Electoral College.
1288
01:06:50,423 --> 01:06:54,717
The legacy of black people
in America is well documented.
1289
01:06:54,719 --> 01:06:57,761
We’ve had times in America
where we have no rights.
1290
01:06:57,763 --> 01:07:00,931
We have even modern day society
when many of the rights
1291
01:07:00,933 --> 01:07:03,517
that we should enjoy freely
still seem
1292
01:07:03,519 --> 01:07:05,436
as if they come
with strings attached.
1293
01:07:05,438 --> 01:07:07,938
So that is a very serious thing
1294
01:07:07,940 --> 01:07:09,940
that we should number
one, acknowledge
1295
01:07:09,942 --> 01:07:13,068
and, number two, still confront
in our regular lives
1296
01:07:13,070 --> 01:07:16,198
when it comes to again
building a more perfect America.
1297
01:07:16,240 --> 01:07:17,489
But when you talk about
1298
01:07:17,491 --> 01:07:20,159
how do we get
to that more perfect union.
1299
01:07:20,161 --> 01:07:23,039
How do we make sure that we
are living Doctor King’s dream
1300
01:07:23,080 --> 01:07:26,498
that all people are judged by
the content of their character.
1301
01:07:26,500 --> 01:07:29,627
You don’t do it by again
getting rid of the one thing
1302
01:07:29,629 --> 01:07:31,629
that has empowered black people
1303
01:07:31,631 --> 01:07:33,964
to be able to
leverage political power.
1304
01:07:33,966 --> 01:07:36,342
We can have arguments about
are there presidents
1305
01:07:36,344 --> 01:07:38,928
who are hostile to the interests
of certain communities.
1306
01:07:38,930 --> 01:07:40,638
What we’re not talking about
is a scenario
1307
01:07:40,640 --> 01:07:43,140
where somebody who got
18 percent of the vote
1308
01:07:43,142 --> 01:07:45,476
ends up becoming president
of the United States.
1309
01:07:45,478 --> 01:07:48,520
But we have never had
a president in the modern era
1310
01:07:48,522 --> 01:07:52,316
who has campaigned to take away
rights of Americans,
1311
01:07:52,318 --> 01:07:55,486
actually rights enshrined
in the constitution.
1312
01:07:55,488 --> 01:07:59,406
That is a scenario that we could
end up confronting in a world
1313
01:07:59,408 --> 01:08:01,911
where we have gotten rid
of the Electoral College.
1314
01:08:02,662 --> 01:08:07,833
In the election of 1860
we had three separate parties,
1315
01:08:08,876 --> 01:08:11,587
four if you count
the splinter party.
1316
01:08:12,338 --> 01:08:14,630
And the candidate who won
that election
1317
01:08:14,632 --> 01:08:17,758
did not win a majority
of the popular vote,
1318
01:08:17,760 --> 01:08:20,344
the candidate
of the republican party
1319
01:08:20,346 --> 01:08:21,845
in that case actually won
1320
01:08:21,847 --> 01:08:24,684
only 39.9 percent
of the popular vote.
1321
01:08:25,643 --> 01:08:30,270
Yet that candidate won
a significant majority
1322
01:08:30,272 --> 01:08:33,190
in the Electoral College
and so that candidate
1323
01:08:33,192 --> 01:08:36,112
was dually elected president
of the United States.
1324
01:08:36,862 --> 01:08:38,153
Now you might say yes,
1325
01:08:38,155 --> 01:08:39,989
but it wasn’t
a popular election.
1326
01:08:39,991 --> 01:08:42,866
Yes, that candidate wasn’t
elected by all the people.
1327
01:08:42,868 --> 01:08:44,702
That’s right.
That candidate wasn’t.
1328
01:08:44,704 --> 01:08:47,456
But his name
was Abraham Lincoln.
1329
01:08:48,624 --> 01:08:50,666
There is no emancipation
proclamation
1330
01:08:50,668 --> 01:08:52,334
without the Electoral College
1331
01:08:52,336 --> 01:08:54,044
because without
the Electoral College
1332
01:08:54,046 --> 01:08:55,713
there is no Abraham Lincoln
as president
1333
01:08:55,715 --> 01:08:57,464
of the United States of America.
1334
01:08:57,466 --> 01:08:59,051
And while his total percentage
1335
01:08:59,093 --> 01:09:01,343
was the lowest
of any elected president
1336
01:09:01,345 --> 01:09:05,723
he was actually the most popular
sort of national candidate
1337
01:09:05,725 --> 01:09:07,433
to the extent
we had one in that election
1338
01:09:07,435 --> 01:09:09,270
in which the country
was very divided.
1339
01:09:09,311 --> 01:09:11,520
Lincoln was the candidate
who won in New England.
1340
01:09:11,522 --> 01:09:12,980
He won in the mid-Atlantic
states.
1341
01:09:12,982 --> 01:09:15,232
He won in the Midwest.
He won in the prairie.
1342
01:09:15,234 --> 01:09:17,276
He won in the new states
on the west coast.
1343
01:09:17,278 --> 01:09:20,112
He was the most national
candidate of the group
1344
01:09:20,114 --> 01:09:22,322
and we were very fortunate
at that point
1345
01:09:22,324 --> 01:09:24,742
that the Electoral College
had given us Lincoln
1346
01:09:24,744 --> 01:09:28,162
rather than Stephen Douglas or
the candidate of the deep south,
1347
01:09:28,164 --> 01:09:30,080
the slaveholders,
John Breckenridge.
1348
01:09:30,082 --> 01:09:31,665
The question
for black Americans,
1349
01:09:31,667 --> 01:09:33,208
the questions for
minority communities
1350
01:09:33,210 --> 01:09:35,629
should be how do
we get more boxes checked.
1351
01:09:36,422 --> 01:09:38,338
How do we get to a point
where both parties
1352
01:09:38,340 --> 01:09:40,924
are not accountable
and responsive?
1353
01:09:40,926 --> 01:09:43,844
Because that is how you
ultimately get to a place
1354
01:09:43,846 --> 01:09:46,013
where the solutions
for black and brown people
1355
01:09:46,015 --> 01:09:49,101
all across this great land
start to accelerate.
1356
01:09:49,143 --> 01:09:52,313
And that should happen
irrespective of who is in power.
1357
01:09:53,230 --> 01:09:55,773
The founding ethos of the black
congressional caucus
1358
01:09:55,775 --> 01:09:57,107
whether you’re a democrat or not
1359
01:09:57,109 --> 01:09:59,612
was that black people
have no permanent friends
1360
01:09:59,653 --> 01:10:01,320
and they have no permanent
enemies,
1361
01:10:01,322 --> 01:10:03,072
only permanent interests.
1362
01:10:03,074 --> 01:10:06,577
And black people of America
have made permanent friends
1363
01:10:06,619 --> 01:10:07,951
of the democratic party,
1364
01:10:07,953 --> 01:10:09,787
permanent enemies
of the republican party
1365
01:10:09,789 --> 01:10:12,456
and our permanent interests
have been cast aside.
1366
01:10:12,458 --> 01:10:14,083
And so if you’re really,
1367
01:10:14,085 --> 01:10:17,254
truly focused
on empowering black communities
1368
01:10:17,963 --> 01:10:19,256
lets not sit here
1369
01:10:19,298 --> 01:10:21,507
and talk about eliminating
the Electoral College.
1370
01:10:21,509 --> 01:10:26,303
Let’s really focus on how do we
as people leverage the power
1371
01:10:26,305 --> 01:10:30,849
that we have in mass,
in numbers and by law
1372
01:10:30,851 --> 01:10:33,354
and part of that is
through the Electoral College.
1373
01:10:43,781 --> 01:10:46,115
I hear Americans saying
this nowadays
1374
01:10:46,117 --> 01:10:47,866
and there’s a lot of it
going around.
1375
01:10:47,868 --> 01:10:50,454
They talk about
a dysfunctional government
1376
01:10:51,747 --> 01:10:53,749
because there’s disagreement
and they –
1377
01:10:54,458 --> 01:10:56,625
and the framers
would have said yes,
1378
01:10:56,627 --> 01:10:58,420
that’s exactly the way
we set it up.
1379
01:10:59,255 --> 01:11:03,968
We wanted this to be power,
contradicting power.
1380
01:11:05,302 --> 01:11:07,847
Unless Americans can appreciate
that and learn
1381
01:11:08,514 --> 01:11:10,722
to love the separate of powers
1382
01:11:10,724 --> 01:11:12,810
which means
learning to love the gridlock
1383
01:11:13,686 --> 01:11:16,812
which the framers believed
would be the main protection
1384
01:11:16,814 --> 01:11:18,858
of minorities,
the main protection.
1385
01:11:19,525 --> 01:11:22,526
If a bill is about to pass
that really comes down hard
1386
01:11:22,528 --> 01:11:25,696
on some minority,
they think it’s terribly unfair,
1387
01:11:25,698 --> 01:11:27,908
it doesn’t take much
to throw a monkey wrench
1388
01:11:29,034 --> 01:11:30,619
into this complex system.
1389
01:11:31,203 --> 01:11:34,621
So Americans
should appreciate that
1390
01:11:34,623 --> 01:11:36,456
and they should learn
to love the gridlock.
1391
01:11:36,458 --> 01:11:38,417
The constitution
if properly understood
1392
01:11:38,419 --> 01:11:40,794
is just one big balancing act.
1393
01:11:40,796 --> 01:11:43,714
We’ve got states balanced
against the national government.
1394
01:11:43,716 --> 01:11:45,716
We’ve got the states balanced
against each other.
1395
01:11:45,718 --> 01:11:48,510
We’ve got each branch
of government, judiciary,
1396
01:11:48,512 --> 01:11:51,388
executive, legislative
balancing each other.
1397
01:11:51,390 --> 01:11:54,016
We’ve got presidential vetoes
and supermajority requirements
1398
01:11:54,018 --> 01:11:57,186
to amend the constitution and
we have the Electoral College.
1399
01:11:57,188 --> 01:12:00,564
And all of these different
aspects of our constitution
1400
01:12:00,566 --> 01:12:03,567
are just a big careful balance
to protect our liberty.
1401
01:12:03,569 --> 01:12:05,905
We’re constantly trying
to make things better.
1402
01:12:06,530 --> 01:12:08,906
So the fact that they may
not have got it right
1403
01:12:08,908 --> 01:12:10,616
by your likes 200 years ago
1404
01:12:10,618 --> 01:12:13,368
is precisely why you want
to keep this system
1405
01:12:13,370 --> 01:12:16,246
because it allows you
to make those kind of changes
1406
01:12:16,248 --> 01:12:18,207
that you think are needed.
1407
01:12:18,209 --> 01:12:20,502
So if you want control
over your life,
1408
01:12:21,253 --> 01:12:24,798
more opportunity in your life
you’ve got to go with this one
1409
01:12:25,549 --> 01:12:27,384
and try to perfect this one.
1410
01:12:27,927 --> 01:12:30,886
And not go to the demigods
who have their own agenda
1411
01:12:30,888 --> 01:12:32,804
which is not your wellbeing.
1412
01:12:32,806 --> 01:12:36,725
So we have to be very careful
when we try to fiddle around
1413
01:12:36,727 --> 01:12:39,269
with a system
that has worked so well
1414
01:12:39,271 --> 01:12:41,980
for this country
over so many years
1415
01:12:41,982 --> 01:12:47,361
and has in each case with a very
small number of exceptions
1416
01:12:47,363 --> 01:12:51,951
has produced a president
who got the most popular votes.
1417
01:12:52,493 --> 01:12:57,456
It is very likely that unless
Electoral College defenders
1418
01:12:57,998 --> 01:13:01,750
rise up and defend the system
that’s in our constitution
1419
01:13:01,752 --> 01:13:04,378
and make the argument about
why the Electoral College
1420
01:13:04,380 --> 01:13:07,424
is so important we can easily
lose the Electoral College.
1421
01:13:08,217 --> 01:13:10,008
This is close to happening
1422
01:13:10,010 --> 01:13:13,512
and could easily happen
within the next few years.
1423
01:13:13,514 --> 01:13:16,431
If you change how presidential
elections work,
1424
01:13:16,433 --> 01:13:19,270
you essentially nullify
the constitutional process,
1425
01:13:19,770 --> 01:13:22,813
rip state lines up
from presidential elections
1426
01:13:22,815 --> 01:13:26,400
and create this environment
where huge swaths of America
1427
01:13:26,402 --> 01:13:27,987
could just be left behind.
1428
01:13:29,071 --> 01:13:31,697
The founders’ solution,
the solution that over
1429
01:13:31,699 --> 01:13:33,782
the course of American history
might,
1430
01:13:33,784 --> 01:13:38,578
we can say is imperfect but has
been remarkably successful
1431
01:13:38,580 --> 01:13:40,497
and the model of the whole world
1432
01:13:40,499 --> 01:13:43,917
is precisely this balancing
very carefully
1433
01:13:43,919 --> 01:13:46,628
by using checks and balances
and institutional systems
1434
01:13:46,630 --> 01:13:49,049
and structures
like the Electoral College
1435
01:13:49,633 --> 01:13:51,633
to have majority rule
1436
01:13:51,635 --> 01:13:53,846
and the rights
of the individuals secured.
1437
01:13:54,555 --> 01:13:57,931
And that thing is what
gives rise to this idea
1438
01:13:57,933 --> 01:14:02,185
we call liberty which is
so unusual in world history
1439
01:14:02,187 --> 01:14:03,814
in anywhere else in the world.
1440
01:14:04,982 --> 01:14:08,608
And we have it precisely
because of those institutions
1441
01:14:08,610 --> 01:14:10,986
which you oftentimes
take for granted.
1442
01:14:10,988 --> 01:14:14,573
We can’t do that
because if you lose that balance
1443
01:14:14,575 --> 01:14:17,870
it becomes very difficult
if not impossible to recover it.
1444
01:14:18,495 --> 01:14:20,495
The founders knew that which is
why they spent
1445
01:14:20,497 --> 01:14:22,082
so much time on this question
1446
01:14:22,875 --> 01:14:25,375
and why they saw
what they were doing
1447
01:14:25,377 --> 01:14:27,921
as the equivalent of founding.
1448
01:14:29,006 --> 01:14:33,050
They were trying to solve
a deeply human eternal problem
1449
01:14:33,052 --> 01:14:36,219
of how we govern ourselves and
they created a beautiful system,
1450
01:14:36,221 --> 01:14:38,766
which should be preserved.
1451
01:14:54,988 --> 01:14:59,988
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1451
01:15:00,305 --> 01:16:00,714
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