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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1984)
, -i Voters need change Hi Wally, whatcha readinT "It's my dumb ole civics book, Beaver. Professor Rollins says we gotta read 20 pages about elections." "Gee, no kiddin? He must be the meanest teacher in the whole school." "Yeah, what if he is, I still gotta read it." "Gee Wally, who ya gonna vote for?" , "I dunnoBeev, I wonder if my vote really counts at all. I'm not sure if I'm gonna vote." "Well, gee Wally, I don't wanna sound creepy or nothin, but doncha think ya oughta decide?" "Yeah, I guess so. I'm just sorta confused about this electoral college thing. I don't know what to think maybe IH ask Dad about it tomorrow. "Gee whiz Wally, why doncha ask Dad about it now, whaddaya chicken or something" "Heck no, I ain't chicken. C'mon let's go ask him before I clobber ya one." Chances are, Ward Cleaver would have known how to explain the electoral college. But then, Ward always had the benefit of television writers and sim ple answers. There are no simple answers about the electoral college, but there are a lot of questions questions voters should ask themselves in this elec tion year. Take "this simple test: v What exactly is the electoral college? Where is it located? When does it meet? What are electors and what is their sig nificance? How does the electoral college affect people's votes? Unsure of the last question? Welcome to the club so are most Americans. And this is our demo cratic system? Of the people, by the people and for the people, that shall not perish from the face of the earth? Rest assured Wally, our democracy has not perished, it's just been buried under years of politi cal gobbledygook. No, Beaver, I guess our votes don't count for that much after all. For the record the electoral college is comprised of presidential electors from each state who meet in their respective state capitals, following their popu lar election, and cast ballots for president and vice president. It never meets as a national body. Our votes do not elect the president, theirs do. , But in the grim light of reality, the electoral college is an anachronism. It has become what former Indi ana Sen. Birch Bayh has called "a state-by-state collection of political hacks and fat cats." A far cry from the wise and benevolent elders assumed by its creators. One of its big problems is the unit-vote system that awards all of a state's electoral votes (Nebraska has five) to the winner of the state popular vote regardless of the margin. The result? Millions of voters have their political voices squelched. Millions of voters, in effect, are disenfranchised when they vote for a losing candidate, because the full voting power of their state its electoral vote is awarded to the candidate they opposed. This is fair? My Aunt Minnie. It's time to quit telling everyone, with grandiose democratic voices, that U.S. citizens have a duty and a right to vote and that every vote counts. The truth is that voters have a duty to understand their sys tem and a right to feel like they are a part of it. The electoral college denies voters that opportunity. In sum, if we are to remain truly democratic, the electoral college must be exposed as a monster. The monster threatens the democratic process and refuses to die even amidst mounting evidence that it is patently undemocratic, outdated and dangerous. So far there are no solutions, just problems; no answers, just questions. We are desperately in need of somecne.to overhaul the electoral college system. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to ask Ward Cleaver. JisnFiissei! A Pi iicy Unsigned editorials represent official policy of the summer 1984 Daily Nebraskan. They are writ ten by this summer 's editor in chief, Lauri Hopple. Other stqff members will write editorials through out Ike summer. They will carry the authors name after the final sentence. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views oj the university, its employees, the students or theNb Board of Regents. The Daily Nebraskan 's publishers are the regents, established the UNL Publications Board tc ITS ANOTHER TRAPITIOMAL WOMAN'S d03m 9 Wt I 0i fcyfi (ARE A -I no,, vice Jfp (5b V STATES,,, J Af7S y -a Feminist m vp cmnce If you'd never seen a snowball in July, consider the case of Geraldine Ferraro. On Tuesday, the representative from Queens nearly rolled into her Minnesota interview with Walter Mondale, back ed by Tip O'Neill, endorsed by three ccnesswo men and carrying favorite daughter wishes from the weekend convention of the National Organi zation for Women. At times it wasn't clear whether Ferraro was in control of this growing snowball, or running to catch up with it. But even the normally cautious Ann Lewis, political director of the Democratic National Committee, enthused: "She is our Sally Ride. She's carrying into that meeting the hopes of so many women." Well, the day-after analysis of the chemistry between Mondale and Ferraro ranged from "okay to "pretty good." The meeting between past and hopeful vice president was given a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. Whatever their personal relationship, it ap peared that the very "pressure" for a woman vice president had begun to melt the snowball a bit around the edges. The campaign for a woman vice president seems to have run into a classic double bind that often ensn&rls women pursuing power. If women sit around waiting for their sex to be promoted, anointed, or called, they often lose because they're ignored. If they make noise, organize and confront, they often loss because they're consi dered too pushy. It's tricky enough to regulate the pressure valves that can make thess: changes in the busi ness world, or in mairistres.ni politics. But it t akes a particularly delicate touch to influence a man who u essentially making his choice for the post of junior partner. ' ' " - The president of NOW, 'Judy Goldsmith, b one who fell into both the passive and aggressive traps this political season. In two easy lessons of what not to do, NOW went from taking a trust walk with Mondale to calling for a confrontation. In the fall, NOW prematurely endorsed Mon dale. The largest feminist organization - in . the country began sounding like the National Organi zation for Mondale Women. Then at the annual convention, Goldsmith warned cf thunderstorms. Until very recently, th2. i cf r.cmir.cLtUv; a voir.n to fcs vizo pre-iicr.t vzc pirt cf rLk stra tegy. Mondale it way down in the polls. A few precincts here and there arsnt going to make the (inference. If he wants to show some glitter, some imagination, some "newness," the argument run, he should go for a woman. Now it is being said that choosing a woman would look like he is trying to avoid risk, the risk of a walkout or a floor f&ht. Instead cf standing mma. up for women, could Mondale be accused cf cav ing in to women? The charge is, on the face of it, absurd. "People are reacting," says Ann Lewis, "as if it were a keenly orchestrated campaign to put a woman in. It's not as if half-a-dozen strategists got in a back room and said, It's time to increase the pressure The issue achieved momentum from the grass roots. It's a genuine grassroots movement" But deep in the public subconscious and, fsr all we know, in Mondale's subconscious, lurks the fear of pushy broads and wimpy men. Even Mon dale adviser, Anne Wexler, who has been eseited sbout the possibility of Ferraro, droves to work one day last week wondering, "ilve we pushed too hard? Have we blown it?" women and power: "It's a position v;sVs itc- been in. It's like walldnr! thrctich a snina Crl.1. Prt of the roiical g-Kie h undzTzXzzdkiz how to play it" Wcmcn, and certainly G e Ferraro, Lc ten this election year m the vice president lonhGt because there was no pressure, no ccnstltuincy, np lobbying. It would be ironic if they i: 1 bsckto a long shot because the pressure, the constituency, the lobbying became eo Inteitsa Long experience in double binds sucests thst they are used by people looking for dny tccl to obstruct change. Nobody ii worried abemt the Hart lobby. The people who seem most concerned about the negative effect of pressure are those who, deep down, don't believe that Mondale will choose Ferraro, or any other woman. . , " My guess is that' Mondale will simply choose someone with whom he is personally comforta ble. Vice president wss his old job and he thinks ' he was pretty good at it. He'll. look for a vice president who will be to him as he was to Jimmy Carter. But then, July was never a vary good sea son fer snowballs. Th Boston Gfs&t Kmpmt Compmyi'&SMMn-; , Qn Posl Wrlltf a Group ' ; supervise the daily production of the newspaper. Pago 4 Dally Nebraskan Tuesday, July 10, 1984