Maps: The Case for the Electoral College, and Where Not to be When TSHTF
billj 07.29.15
A lot of populists like the bag on the electoral college, and indeed it is a fundamentally undemocratic institution in its original aim, but I think that very few EC haters really want to live in a world where that institution doesn’t exist. That is, of course, unless those haters live in one of the 144 counties clustered mostly around LA, Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco that hold half the country’s population.
Take a look at this new set of population density visualizations that show where people live, and think about a presidential race in which the president is picked entirely by the popular vote. In such a race, those red counties are the only places where the candidates would do 100% of their campaigning and fundraising. Everyone else could go hang.
Or, to paraphrase a certain former presidential candidate, the job of a presidential candidate would be not to worry about anyone who lives in an orange region of the country because the votes and the money are in the red regions. So think about that the next time your candidate wins the popular vote but loses in the EC.
And on a different note entirely (or is it?), these counties are also where you don’t want to be if TSHTF. If you live in or adjacent to one of these areas when the balloon goes up, then it was nice knowing you.
Also, if climate change is real and we have rapid sea level rise, notice how the top five areas are all next to water. A few meters of sea level rise really would mean mass migration, economic catastrophe, and so on and so forth. But I personally am hoping that the climate change stuff is all just propaganda put out there by Godless liberals who want to weaken America for the UN-lead introduction of sharia law, and not a real thing.
