this editorial is a good example of why i don't think there will ever be a meaningful change to the electoral college system. almost everyone thinks the electoral college is a crappy system for choosing the president. but any change will benefit one party in the next election and handicap the other. the party whose chances are likely to be worse will therefore work hard scuttle the reform, even if party members favor the change in the abstract.
personally, i think every state should divide its electoral votes proportionately like california is trying to do. for states that don't have many electoral votes it won't make much of a difference. maine and nebraska already divide their electoral votes proportionately, and no one makes a big fuss about it. but neither has enough electoral votes to divide to determine the election (also nebraska is so solidly red the split isn't likely to happen). but many of the big states are currently solid red or blue. whichever big state adopts the reform could seriously effect the outcome of a presidential election. and, as it happens, the reform will harm the chances of the same party that holds a clear majority of the state.
if all states switched to proportional electoral voting, democrats would do fine in the presidential election. they'd lose some california and new york electors, but pick up some in places like texas and colorado.but among the big states, someone has to go first. and that state would be harming the presidential prospects of precisely the party that state favors. so that means the change will probably never happen.
actually, problems like these plague any reform of the system we choose our leaders. the people who have the power to make the reforms are precisely the same people who have done well under the system the reforms would abolish. change can happen, but it's just very hard to do. and with the presidency, i think the stakes are just too high for any party who believes their prospects are good to give up that advantage for the sake of a fairer system in the long term.
