4th December 2012, 9:33 PM
I know that for now the Republican party is opposed to the national popular vote (note how the only states to have passed it are D-leaning ones who did it in reaction to 2000), but if demographic trends continue the way they are going now, I don't think it's going to matter much -- I mean, by the time states like Georgia and Texas become swing states because of their growing Latino populations, it doesn't matter whether you're talking about a national popular vote or the Electoral College, the Republicans won't be winning unless they radially change a lot of their policies...
But yes, NPV would reduce the amount of focus on those few states, and increase focus on higher-population areas. States like Maine would suffer too; we didn't have much this time, but in the recent past sometimes Maine has drawn visits for presidential elections which I doubt we'd get with NPV; those 4 electoral votes matter a lot more than the popular vote total would! But even so, I do support national popular vote, and I think going to that would be the right thing to do.
But yes, NPV would reduce the amount of focus on those few states, and increase focus on higher-population areas. States like Maine would suffer too; we didn't have much this time, but in the recent past sometimes Maine has drawn visits for presidential elections which I doubt we'd get with NPV; those 4 electoral votes matter a lot more than the popular vote total would! But even so, I do support national popular vote, and I think going to that would be the right thing to do.