2008 Presidential Election

Roland Martin has got it right.

People need to pay attention to politics, especially the 2008 Presidential Election next year. We get too distracted with our IPODs, XBox 360s, Fantasy Football Teams, and the latest Paris Hilton exploits; things that in the long term really won't matter.

What really has always struck home with me about how important this next election is, is the fact that the next President could appoint as many as Three Supreme Court Justices. This could radically change the makeup of the Court for the next 30 years or so. Think about the issues that are important to you, and what kind of Court you would like to see making the decisions. Then think about which Candidates will nominate those types of Justices.

New Electoral College System

I found this method of administering the nomination of Electors to the Electoral College very intriguing: The state of Maryland Senate has passed a bill that would compel the Electors chosen to cast their vote for the candidate who wins the majority vote in the country. If passed by the house and signed by the governor (who said he would) this would take effect once states representing at least 270 electoral votes. It will be interesting to see if many people pick up on this and other states try to pass similar statutes. This would effectively eliminate the Electoral College without a Constitutional Amendment. Roll that one around in your head for a bit.

Presidential Elections have always been one of those things I have had a problem with. I do not like that the popular vote of the country could significantly vary from the controlling electoral vote. I have gone through a several versions of ways states can improve it, such as dividing votes by who wins congressional districts (done by Maine and Nebraska) or dividing up electoral votes based on a percentage of the popular vote won (my most recent favorite). I will be watching the Maryland plan to see how it is received by other states.