That was expected, and while there were no surprises when the time came Monday for our trio of voters to cast their electoral college ballots, we should not overlook the historical significance of the act.
This year, Alaskans were privileged for the first time to vote on a general election ballot that included a local on the presidential ticket. When our state’s electoral college voters, including the Valley’s own Roy J. Burkhart of Willow, marked their ballots Monday, they were speaking for thousands of us and the some 60 percent majority here who supported McCain and Palin.
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While the Electoral College is often under fire as being obsolete, it’s still the most balanced way of choosing America’s leader.
If our president were to be elected by a simple majority, Alaska’s voice would be a mere whisper lost in the clamor of the crowd. In the Electoral College, our three votes are a greater percentage of the whole.
“Never before has Alaska’s governor run for vice president of the United States,” Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell said of the event. “And never before have Alaska’s electors cast their electoral votes for their own governor. This is truly a milestone.”
Whether a fan or critic of the electoral college system of choosing the president of the United States, Monday’s ceremony in Juneau is a reminder that the Electoral College is more than a vague concept lifted from a high school history textbook. There’s nothing anticlimactic about witnessing history.
Comments
5 comment(s)MAXKATT from NY wrote on Dec 24, 2008 9:46 PM:
To james wrote on Dec 20, 2008 7:46 PM:
Disgusted Alaskan wrote on Dec 19, 2008 6:12 PM:
Show it and they will come wrote on Dec 18, 2008 1:08 PM:
james wrote on Dec 16, 2008 4:33 PM:
http://johnmccainhugs.blogspot.com/2008/09/john-mccain-beat-his-wife-cindy.html
mccain has come very close to being indited because of his cronies behavior,charles keating to mention one. "