The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

2004 Election Coverage Check out USA Today's County by County Voting Results Counties voting Republican are noted in Red, Democratic in Blue. Bush won the popular vote and the electoral vote, but its interesting that he carried the majority of the counties in states that went to Kerry. Kerry had strong support in the densely populated metropolitan areas of Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and but Bush carried most (if not all) of the smaller cities and rural areas in these states.

Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 Cool website that shows the electoral vote breakdown by state for Bush and Kerry campaigns. Updated daily. Interesting visual contrasts between the American heartland and the East/West coasts.

The Popular Vote Anyone who argues that the Electoral College should be scrapped in favor of the popular vote should first understand how the electoral college works and why it was established in the first place. The Electoral College provides a system of checks and balances between the federal and state governments. It maintains the balance of power between the large and the small states. It facilitates the stable transition of power across regular elections. There's also a conservative notion that the primary purpose of government is to secure and protect the liberty and property of its citizens. Stability is a prerequisite for security. The popular vote can be as fickle and dangerous as a tyrannical mob. It was used in Ancient Greece to condemn Socrates to death. It was manipulated by the demagogues of the 20th century to elect the likes of Adolf Hitler to public office. Links: How the Electoral College Works Brief History and Evaluation of the Electoral