We Are Screwed

Fandango

“It’s not brain surgery, Jack,” Alan said. “It’s the Electoral College.”

“Well, it’s all a bunch of gibberish to me,” Jack said. “It astounds me that Biden could have won the popular vote by more than seven million and we still have to go through this electrical college bullshit before it’s official.”

“It’s electoral, not electrical,” Alan said.

“Sheesh, Alan,” Jack said, “I didn’t peg you to be such a word nerd. Still, it’s all a bunch of political mumbo jumbo to me.”

“It’s an antiquated concept that the Founding Fathers came up with when they were writing the Constitution. The plan was to ensure that the people who elected the president were smart enough to make an informed decision. The Founding Fathers were concerned that 18th-century voters, especially those in rural outposts, lacked the resources to be fully informed about the candidates. And, of course, they didn’t want slaves to vote.”

“So you’re saying they cooked up this electorial college to send people to in order make them smarter?”

“It’s electoral, not electorial,” Alan said. “It’s not an actual physical college, Jack. When you vote for a presidential candidate, you’re technically voting for a slate of electors selected by the candidate’s political party in each state. The idea is that the electors selected to represent their party’s candidate would be faithful to the popular vote in their respective states and would then vote for the candidate who got the most votes in that state. It’s supposed to be a winner-take-all proposition, where the candidate that gets the most votes in the state gets all of that state’s electoral votes.”

“And what if these electricians are unfaithful?” Jack asked.

“It’s electors, not electricians, Jack,” Alan said. “And, as in any other instance of someone being unfaithful, if these electors are unfaithful, then we, as a country, are, plain and simple, screwed.”

“That’s fucked up, Alan,” Jack said.

Alan shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t disagree with you on that, buddy.”

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (surgery), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (gibberish), Word of the Day Challenge (astound), Ragtag Daily Prompt (peg), MMA Storytime (plan), and Your Daily Word Prompt (faithful).

19 thoughts on “We Are Screwed”

  4. abigfatcanofworms December 14, 2020 / 3:18 pm

    A great piece. The American system is pretty foreign to us Aussies. And despite Jack’s problems with a few words, I can’t help being grateful for his questions because they’re my questions too. 😊

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  5. Iain Kelly December 14, 2020 / 3:40 pm

    To be fair, it’s hard to find a political system in any country that isn’t flawed, but yeah, the Electrical College takes some beating!

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  6. Marilyn Armstrong December 14, 2020 / 5:11 pm

    I have read at least four versions in newspapers today doing a detailed description of the Electoral College. But really, it WAS a way for the south which had a low human population but a lot of non-voting slaves to stay “on the same page” with the north. It was just another way of skittering around slavery.

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    • Fandango December 14, 2020 / 9:24 pm

      It’s confounding, even to most Americans. Fortunately, the electors voted today and none was unfaithful.

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  11. Carol anne December 15, 2020 / 4:43 pm

    thanks for the explanation of the electoral college and the process of voting and how it all works because I never knew about how it actually works! xoxo

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  12. leigha66 December 22, 2020 / 5:12 pm

    Sounds like Jack needs a hearing aid. Nice informative story!

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