, -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
