Lawrence O’Donnell claims to be from Dorchester, Mass, but doesn't have the local accent.
The Electoral College was a compromise among those who wanted the President to be elected by popular vote, those who wanted the President selected by Congress, and less populous states who were afraid result in their voices and interests being drowned out by the larger states.
The Electoral College is an imperfect mechanism to balance the majority rule of the more populous states and the minority rights of the less populous state.
As demographics continue to change, Liberal Democratic states that have been loosing House Seats over the past 30 years (such as Massachusettts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York) will come to rely on this mechanism to avoid becoming irrelevant as Texas and Florida gain more House Seats.
AOC is right. The Electoral College is affirmative action for rural states, but that was the compromise needed to get less populous states, like Delaware, to agree to ratify the US Constitition.
Our Founders did not want rule by fickle radical moods of the mob. Our system is a conglomeration of institutional, Federal, and gubenatorial checks and balances. That's why radical elements are frustrated on both sides. In the heat of the moment, they are unable to fully impose their majority will upon the minority because no office, institution, branch of government, or government has unchecked unilateral authority.
The system is designed to slow roll radicalism so significant change requires super majorities, compromise, checks on power, and balance of power - all of which help the system persevere through the fickle radical whims of the mob.
