The 2016 presidential election set an ugly precedent — that practically anyone, regardless of political experience, could run and successfully become president. This precedent was set as a consequence of the election of Donald Trump. Donald Trump is not a politician — he is a celebrity and a failure of a businessman among other things. Donald Trump is the demagogue that the Framers of the Constitution feared and established the electoral college for. The United States of America is the only democracy where such an outdated process for electing a leader exists. If there is one thing to learn from the 2016 election, it is that the Electoral College is not serving its purpose and must therefore be abolished.
Trump’s presidential campaign was built on misogyny, sexism, racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, homophobia, among other things. It is fair to say that there has never been a presidential campaign in American history as astounding as that of Trump’s. Donald Trump is “the very definition of the American success story” according to the Trump Organization. He began his business career with a small loan of one million dollars. His father was a real estate magnate and Donald attended the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. But despite the odds that Trump faced, he fought and prevailed against all the disadvantages that a young white man with a small loan of a million dollars might face. This is the very same man that led a fierce campaign against all the “rapists” (Trump) that Mexico was sending. This same man also declared that he would establish a Muslim registry because all Muslims are terrorists and apparently America hasn’t learned its lesson from the Japanese internment camps during the 20th century. Donald Trump is a man with no political experience and the temperament of a child; with this in mind, it is fair to argue that Trump is a demagogue.
It was only a little over two decades ago that South Africa was under an apartheid. This system allowed for institutionalized racial discrimination and segregated the people by race. This system was in place from 1948 to 1994 before it was ended after a long struggle. The Electoral College has been in place for over two centuries in the United States of America. The Electoral College is a procedure where a body of 538 electors, the number is derived from the number of representatives each state has plus the number of senators with DC receiving 3 electors despite it not being a state, vote between presidential candidates based on whoever receives a majority or plurality in the state election. In other words there are 51 mini elections and the electors of each state must usually go by the people’s decision. It is important to stress that a candidate can win a state by receiving a plurality of the votes rather than a majority. Proponents of the Electoral College will argue that it protects the interests of smaller states which in fact it does and it allows for a candidate to secure the presidency without receiving the popular vote. This is the case for the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump has won the presidency without receiving the popular vote. He did not lose the popular vote by a margin, as was the case in Gore v Bush, but rather by an unprecedented landslide. Hillary Clinton is now leading the popular vote count by over two million votes. The Electoral College has failed the people.
The Electoral College was designed to ensure that a demagogue would not obtain power as president of the United States of America. It is fair to say that Donald Trump, a man with no political experiment and the temperament of a child, is a demagogue. This is evidenced by his angry tweets at 3 am in the morning where he declared that he “won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally” (@realDonaldTrump, Twitter). One can only speculate that these “millions of white people who voted illegally” might be anyone who is not a “disadvantaged" white man. The Framers of the Constitution designed the Electoral College to prevent any demagogue from appealing to the masses, securing presidency, and sending the country into turmoil. In Federalist Paper #68, Alexander Hamilton states that the purpose of the Electors is to “afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder”. But in 29 states, there are laws that prosecute faithless electors who go against the popular will of the particular state. Such legislation makes it impossible for the Electoral College to serve its intended purpose. Furthermore, even if such legislation was not in place — voting against the pledged state can dramatically alter the lives of these electors forever. The election of Donald Trump is the confirmation that the Electoral College has failed its purpose and must be abolished. South Africans fought for decades to abolish the apartheid. The fight to abolish the Electoral College will not be an easy one but one that is worth every second.
Standing on the train observing fellow Americans, it begins to raise questions on our future. What is the future of the United States of America? Where do we go from here? What steps can we take to assure that an outrageous outcome such as this never occurs? I recall watching Clinton deliver her concession speech the day after Election Day. In her speech she said “to all the little girls watching this, never doubt that you are powerful and valuable and deserving of every chance in the world”. I will admit, I was not a Hillary supporter in the beginning of the race. I was an adamant Bernie Sanders supporter but I realized that in American politics, we choose the least worst candidate not the best. But even now, this method has failed us. The times are changing and so should our voting system.
