By now we've all gotten so used to talking about swing states and are so focused on how to affect the vote of independents and swing voters in swing states that there's not much noise being made about the fact that the entire system that produces swing states, ie the electoral college, is ludicrous. I have yet to read a single good justification for keeping this thoroughly undemocratic institution, and yet here we are once again, watching a subset of Americans in 17 different states determine our next President.
I say this now because today, the geographic tyranny of electoral math reached a sort of sublime apogee when Bush and Kerry actually campaigned in the same Iowa city at the same time.
It's almost like a Onion headline. What next? "Bush and Kerry spend entire day with same undecided Ohioan"?
Please consider supporting our work.
I hope you found this article important. Before you leave, I want to ask you to consider supporting our work with a donation. In These Times needs readers like you to help sustain our mission. We don’t depend on—or want—corporate advertising or deep-pocketed billionaires to fund our journalism. We’re supported by you, the reader, so we can focus on covering the issues that matter most to the progressive movement without fear or compromise.
Our work isn’t hidden behind a paywall because of people like you who support our journalism. We want to keep it that way. If you value the work we do and the movements we cover, please consider donating to In These Times.
Christopher Hayes is the host of MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes. He is an editor at large at the Nation and a former senior editor of In These Times.
