Swing and a Miss

Former Twins' pitcher Jack Morris was interviewed by the Pioneer Press and they made the unfortunate choice to veer into politics. Conclusion, Twins' fans are lucky passing a civics exam isn't required before pitching a World Series Game 7.

The most important thing I would change in our current government is I would make the electoral system vanish and have every single vote count the same. If you're a little guy in Kentucky you should have the same vote as the big guy in New York. It should be a popular vote.

Why does Jack Morris hate little guys in Kentucky? Right now, thanks to the electoral college, they disproportionately influence the outcome of Presidential at the expense of the big guys in New York. And Jack Morris burns with a vengeance to even the score!

More details on the leveling aspect of the electoral college from the Cato Institute:

[James Madison] thought it embodied the "federal will" of the nation. By that he meant that the Electoral College included both the will of the nation as expressed in the popular vote and the will of the states in a federal system (every state large or small gets two electors). As Madison knew, this amalgamation gave small and medium-sized states more leverage in presidential elections than they would have in a popular vote. He found that fair given the influence of large states in other areas.

In our own time, we can see other advantages of the Electoral College. Under direct popular election of the president, the Democratic candidate would probably seek large majorities in major metropolitan areas on both coasts, ignoring the smaller states in between. The alienation of "Middle America" would increase. In contrast, the Electoral College forces all candidates to seek support throughout the nation. Thus our last election found Al Gore in Florida and George W. Bush in Michigan and Oregon. In this way, the Electoral College contributes to the unity of our fractious nation.

Taking the hatchet to this foundation of American democracy is typically the province of segments of the Left still seething over the electoral college loss of Al Gore to George W Bush in 2000. Until then, nobody much cared about the electoral college, let alone considered it "the most important thing they would change in the government," save for those few still holding a candle for Samuel Tilden.

If Jack Morris still dreams of the Gore-Lieberman utopia we could have had if it weren't for those meddling Founding Fathers, more power to him. But is it too much to ask our sports celebrities to review their Democrat party talking points before giving interviews on Constitutional reforms in the sports pages?

A lesson from a master of the form, Hillary Clinton:

"I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people and to me, that means it's time to do away with the Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president."

The first lady also said that because of the closeness of this year's presidential election, "I hope no one is ever in doubt again about whether their vote counts."

See, she got the "let every vote count" paranoia out there and made a shameless appeal to the always popular "popular will." But she left out the "I'm for the little fellers, not the Rockefellers" boiler plate. Take note, that will be fine for future sports page interviews about the need for universal health care, cracking down on the oil companies, or raising taxes. But as far as the electoral college goes, the little guys are the enemy.