Word: reformer
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This is why we can expect pressure for reform--specifically a renewed demand to abandon the Electoral College in favor of direct, popular-vote election of the President, which would require a constitutional amendment. This is what got attention but then failed on Capitol Hill after George Wallace's third-party strength in 1968 almost blocked an Electoral College majority...
This option has obvious weaknesses. The Democrats, especially because of Gore's likely popular-vote victory, are the party ideologically most disposed toward reform. However, conservatives, almost by nature, cling to old institutions and cherish constitutional artifacts. Many Republicans also believe that their party has an advantage in the Electoral College because it overrepresents the small, rural and G.O.P.-inclined jurisdictions. This isn't true anymore--now that Republican presidential support is overconcentrated in the South--but it used to be in the 1970s and '80s, and old beliefs die hard. Republicans are likely to beat back any constitutional amendment...
...lieu of a constitutional amendment, congressional legislation may be able to do the job. Article II of the Constitution says that "Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors and the day on which they shall give their votes." Proponents of reform say that Congress could pass a law requiring that electors be chosen on Election Day and also give their votes on Election Day. That would leave the states with no avenue but to consider each individual voter to be a fraction of an elector...
...over a century, that 2000 was a fluke and that maybe we'll be lucky for another 100 years. Partisan rancor, the divided outcome and the disputed Florida are more than enough proof that the viability and legitimacy of the 21st century presidency require either constitutional or legislative reform...
...then in the Senate, Lott mellowed, earning a reputation as a tough negotiator willing to make sacrifices in order to get things done. When he became majority leader in 1996, Lott reached out to moderate Democrats and the White House, efforts that led to the smooth passage of welfare reform and a minimum-wage increase...