Why I'm Glad to be an American Today

Today is the day that our electoral college officially chooses our President. You might think that we already did that in November, but actually, we just voted for which political party in our state would get to choose the people to represent us when our state participates in the electoral college. I always thought that this system was unfair, but is it?

Why was our election process set up so that the populace would not be able to have a direct vote for our President? As James Madison and Alexander Hamilton explained in the Federalist Papers , the Constitution was set up to 

maintain a balance of power between that which is state based (the Senate) and that which is population based (the House of Representatives).  There was concern that a few more populated areas would be able to completely determine all governmental policy, and that the needs and rights of the less populated areas would be ignored. They wanted to set up a system which provided that all the people, even those who did not vote, would be fairly represented. 

Also, both Madison and Hamilton wanted to set up election procedures which would provide for an enduring, stable, and moderate political system.  They wanted to ensure that our state, not just individual, concerns would be represented in the choice of a President. They were also attempting to guard the new nation from potential corruption, and as Hamilton put it, they wanted to ensure that there would be an extra level of protection so that an unqualified candidate who used "low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity", could not become President. Madison believed that the people of the United States must be guarded against those who were more concerned about their own interests, or aggrandizement, instead of the greater good of the nation as a whole.  

This system of safeguards is why I am especially grateful to be a member of the United States today. Our system is set up to ensure that our Constitutional rights will be protected. Our interests, needs, and concerns will be represented whether we live in a big city or in the country, or whether we live a large or a small state. Also, we have an added safeguard in our Electoral College which prevents a charismatic, but unqualified or dishonest person who "comes across well on the media", from becoming President and possibly setting himself up as a dictator.

This is what I love about our country. We have so many safeguards and "checks and balances" that we never need to fear. No matter who becomes President, power is distributed among both the States and the Federal government, and between the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive branches of government. We never need to fear that a President can "destroy our nation and take away our freedom".  Our system has been set up to ensure that a President does not have that power. 

In our Representative Democracy, the power lies with the people. The United States' strength lies not with giving our power away to some "champion" who will "save" us, but rather in never forgetting that the true source of our strength has been, and will always be, our faith in God.