In the Trump Era, we must protect the Electoral College

After almost two and a half years, the post-Trump debate about how we as a country pick presidents has gotten incredibly tedious, probably because it’s not focused on the root problems behind it.

This week, 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., reignited the debate about whether or not America should keep the Electoral College. Fellow candidates Robert Francis O’Rourke and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Mass., have since also expressed interest in getting rid of the constitutional process.

There are, of course, very good reasons why the framers opted against picking a president by national popular vote. Political thinkers from Aristotle to the Founding Fathers warned against the dangers of mob rule that go hand-in-hand with direct democracy. That’s why this country was founded as a republic and why electors choose the president, rather than the popular vote.

The Electoral College gives people throughout a voice that they wouldn’t otherwise have if the president were chosen by popular vote. It ensures that this country’s chief executive has to actually represent the entire country, rather than just the prevailing interests of its most populated areas. It also has ended up serving as a restraint on political party power.