During the summer of 2011, Professor Bradley Rasch embarked on a lengthy train trip through Germany with a group of European college professors. As often happens with foreigners and Americans, it was not long before the conversation turned to American politics and government. As Rasch fielded questions from his fellow passengers about the American government and how it works, he soon realized that his explanations were teaching him much about his country as well. Here, Rasch details the discussions from that journey as well as the reactions of the professors, ultimately challenging myths and deep truths and bringing to light the strengths and weaknesses of this influential country. While describing the basics of American government and politics in an informative, thought provoking style, Rasch combines his own love of history and passion for his country to present an informative study that addresses diverse questions: • What is the American dream? • Why is the president not elected by popular vote? • What is American exceptionalism? • How does the United States government really work? • What do the two parties agree on? Explaining and Defending American Government shares an insightful, eye-opening glimpse into the true state of the government and politics of the most powerful nation in the world.

Explaining and Defending American Government

To a Group of Non-Americans on a Five-Hour Train Trip to BerlinBy Bradley W. Rasch

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Bradley W. Rasch
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-2284-4

Chapter One

Presidents Can Be (and Have Been) Elected with Fewer Popular Votes Than Their Opponents

There have been presidents elected with fewer popular votes than their opponents. Several presidents have been elected with less than a majority of the votes cast.

When I told my compartment companions that George Bush had received fewer popular votes than Al Gore yet won the election, they were shocked. "How did that happen?" they asked. "Are you glad that it just happened once? How could the military stand for that?"

I explained that it happened twice before Bush versus Gore. Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison also were elected with fewer popular votes than their main opponent.

I ordered a stiff drink before having to explain the Electoral College and why the military's feelings about the election were irrelevant.

Before I explained the Electoral College, I made them promise to explain why people in my country "run" for office and people in their countries "stand" for office. Though they promised to do so, the promise was not kept.

The Electoral College

The president and vice president are not elected directly by the popular vote of the people. The Electoral College elects the president and vice president. The Electoral College has no football team, no professors, no tuition, and no campus. It does not even grant degrees.

My foreign friends were shocked by this (as are some Americans). Who are these people in this Electoral College? Can they be corrupted? The answers are it depends, and it depends.

Each state has a number of electoral votes equal to its number of senators (always two from each state) plus its number of representatives in the House of Representatives, which is determined by the state's population. We have a census every ten years, which among other things determines how many representatives in the House of Representatives each state gets. There are always 435 members in the House of Representatives. How many each state gets of those 435 is determined by its population recorded during the last census.

I explained to them that my home state of Illinois has two senators (as does every state) and nineteen representatives; therefore, it has twenty-one electoral votes.

No federal regulations require an elector (what you call a member of the Electoral College) to vote for the individual that received the most votes from the people in that state. Some state laws require that they do, and other states have no such requirement. It is possible that electors could "vote their conscience" and cast their vote for someone other than the person who won the popular vote in that state.

How electors are chosen varies from state to state. Sometimes political parties choose them, and sometimes they are elected by the people.

Historically, these electors have not always voted in accordance with the popular vote of their state.

Is it possible that the electors could vote for a person who received significantly fewer votes than their opponent, therefore handing the election to someone who did not win the popular vote in any state? Possible but not likely.

The District of Columbia (Washington, DC, the nation's capital) has three electoral votes. They do not, however, have senators or representatives who can vote on the laws of the country. The people there pay taxes. So much for "No taxation without representation."

Why do we have the Electoral College? Because the founding fathers did not trust the wisdom of the masses. It was put in place as a safeguard from the whims of the people (the voters).

"Will you always have this Electoral College?" my fellow passengers asked. Yes, we probably will. You see, the Electoral College is in the Constitution, and changing the Constitution is as likely as the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series (this analogy was lost on my European friends).

To further complicate factors, the Electoral College also decides on the vice president. What if the Electoral College is gridlocked or cannot reach a decision on who should be the president and vice president? The House of Representatives decides on who the president will be, and the Senate decides the vice presidency.

The foreigners were surprised about this whole democracy thing. I was able to point out, though, that the military or the church has never intervened, and the process has always been peaceful (but not always civil).

The whole Electoral College thing came as a real surprise to these folks. "Isn't it a bit antiquated?" they asked.

"Yes," I replied, "but we hold our Constitution to be sacred."

"Are you insulted that the founding fathers did not trust you to elect a president directly?"

"No," I replied, "in my home state we elected Rod Blagojevich for governor twice, demonstrating we could not be trusted with the vote."

"Who was he?" they asked.

"You do not want to know" was my firm reply, which ended their questions on that matter. He went to prison on 3/15, becoming inmate 40892-424, at Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in suburban Denver, Colorado.

How Do You Get on the Ballot to Run for the Presidency as a Candidate of One of the Major Parties?

Get Ahold of a Lot of Money

If you are not wealthy yourself, you need to have a lot of people who are to donate money to your campaign. Running for president is an extraordinarily expensive proposition. And you are running for a long time. So long, in fact, that many candidates run out of money, and then they are out of the race.

As a general rule, many Republicans running for the office obtain financial backing from the business world, including corporations and other interest groups often associated with business and industry.

Democrat hopefuls often receive financial support from unions and labor organizations of many kinds.

The Republican party (also referred to as the Grand Old Party, or GOP) is often considered a probusiness party. The Democratic party is often considered to be proworker (labor).

Both parties receive a great deal of financial support from various celebrities ranging from Oprah (Barrack Obama) to Chuck Norris (Mike Huckabee). Candidates do not invite support from some celebrities (Paris Hilton) that might embarrass their campaign.

It All Begins in Iowa

Candidates from the major parties (the Republican and Democratic parties) eventually earn the right to become their party's nominee because they have secured the votes of delegates to the convention that is held every four years. These delegates are determined by a state-by-state series of primary elections and caucuses that occur before the convention. In a caucus, people get together and meet and decide which candidate they want to support. The delegates are determined as a result of the votes that occur in these caucuses.

When you vote in a primary election or a caucus, generally, you declare yourself a Republican or Democrat and indicate the person in your party whom you would like to see as your presidential candidate. By indicating the candidate you prefer, you are really electing people who will go to the Republican Convention or Democratic Convention and cast their vote for that candidate. Since these are party affairs, the party rules—not federal rules—are important. People sent to the convention, in some cases, can...