But before lawmakers rewrite the Constitution, they should remember the law of unintended consequences. She focused on her home state, the Carolinas, and a half-dozen other Southern states. The good news for Hutchison is that 37 minor parties will be stricken from the new ballot, as will the mayor of Toledo and Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, both of whom have pledged to back Hutchison in exchange for prominent jobs in her Administration. No matter who ultimately prevails, the inauguration will be delayed by at least two months. But this year's election has thrown the Electoral College into disrepute and led to calls for reform.
Trouble is, such ideas often have unintended consequences.
Under a direct-election system, campaigns would no longer have the remotest interest in respecting state boundaries. Instead, they would concentrate on densely populated urban areas where candidates could get the most bang for their buck. The largest of these clusters would be the population centers surrounding the Great Lakes, where direct appeals could be made to some 26 million residents. The second-largest region would center on New York City and include the western half of Connecticut and northern New Jersey. Those nodes would encompass some 135 million people, or about half the U.S. population.