To whom it may concern,

In my own opinion I think we should keep the electoral college because of the specific fact that it has to make candidates strategize on which states to heavily campaign in. Some candidates don't even go to some states. Like in "2000, seventeen states didnt see the candidates at all, including Rhode Island and South Carolina" (Source 3 paragraph 13). With that being said, most candidates will try to get as many swing states as they can with a few large states, (California or Texas), "Voters in {

swing

} states are most likely to pay closer attention to the campaign-to really listen to the competing candidates..." (Source 3 paragraph 20). That is good because if they are paying closer attention to the campaign, then candidates will make sure that the views that impact those states more are adressed heavily. "Democrats in texas and Repulicans in California might vote the for the other side because of the fact that their is vote will ahve no effect" (Source 3 paragraph 23). That would be assuming that in the up coming election a Republican candidate pops up and surprises evryone in California and all of a sudden 55 more electoral votes to the Republican party. "Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bob Dole, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO all agreed on abolishing the Electoral College" (Source 2 paragraph 1). They all said and agreed on it, but the one thing about it that's so great about the electoral college is that it also has the voters watch and think about who they vote for. If they had gotten rid of the electoral college, then voters wouldn't take their time and they would vote for whoever had the popular vote in their state. If that were to happen then the whole election would be based of of what the candidate looks like and not what he's saying. "Back in 1960 segregationists in the Louisiana legislature nearly succeeded in replacing Democratic electors with new ones who would oppose John F. Kennedy" (Source 2 paragraph 11). To me that just seems like a waste of time trying to get new electors and replacing the ones that were against one candidate all because of a standing on the political spectrum, doesn't that seem a little to much. Most people might also think that every state has a "winner take all system", but Nebraska and Maine both have a variation of proportional representation (Source 1 Paragraph 7). That is something that voters should know about because it shows that their state is doing what it can to make sure it isn't all 1 sided.

As I conclude this letter, strategize before you campaign and you could be the next president.

Sincerely,

John Owens