I know who the real anachronism is...

Via Kim du Toit, here's a link to a story that informs us that Senator Diane Feinstein (D-PRK)is going to introduce a Constitutional amendment to the Senate next term that would change the way that the President is elected from the Electoral College system we use now to a direct popular vote.

"The Electoral College is an anachronism, and the time has come to bring our democracy into the 21st century," Feinstein said in a statement. "During the founding years of the republic, the Electoral College may have been a suitable system, but today it is flawed and amounts to national elections being decided in several battleground states."

Kim says just about everything I would have said in response so go read his comments before coming back to read mine.

Now I can't prove this without being able to give every American the ability to read minds and then holding up Senator Feinstein before them but I do believe the following:

If John Kerry had won the election, she probably would not be doing this. She might, given what happened in 2000, but it's definitely not certain.

If John Kerry had won the election but lost the popular vote, the reverse of the situation in 2000, she most definitely would not be doing this. She may even come out and say how wise the Founding Fathers were for designing this system in the first place.

Of course, in the 2004 election it wouldn't have made a difference since Bush won a true majority of the votes. However, there's Hillary's run in 2008 to consider and the only reason Feinstein wants this amendment is because she thinks it will improve the Democratic candidate's chances in that election and the ones to follow. Given how contentious the 2004 election was, it's a pretty sure bet that a lot of people who either didn't vote, or voted for a third-party candidate, will reconsider that decision in 2008. Whether that will provide a greater boost to the Republicans or the Democrats remains to be seen. For now, Feinstein is working to make sure a repeat of the 2000 election doesn't happen again.

Of course, as Kim notes, it ain't gonna happen. For that, let us be grateful. Remember folks, the United States of America is not a Democracy. Ancient Athens was a democracy. The US is a Constitutional Republic. One reason we have the system we have is in order to prevent the tyranny of the majority, a condition which Diane Feinstein would dearly love to see come to pass.