We should amend the Constitution and go strictly by the popular vote. And many smaller states, including Rhode Island, might want to preserve the current set-up because it gives them extra clout. That's because the electoral votes are equivalent to the number of representatives and senators each state has. The House is based on population. Rhode Island has only two.
Some states have only one.
But each state has two senators. Paolino said things were such a blur he couldn't say whether he'd like the Electoral College junked. While Paolino reported from Nashville, where he'd hoped to see a Gore celebration Tuesday night, I reached Rhode Island Bush chairman Jim Bennett in Austin, where he'd hoped to see a celebration for his guy. He didn't know what should be done about the Electoral College down the line either, although he said it seems generally to work well. In the 1976 NCAA tournament, he said, Brown lost in double overtime when a puck bounced off a Michigan Tech skater into the goal.