it also increases the case for choosing Edwards.

Is this for real? I find it's hard to believe.

Is this for real, I find it's hard to believe.

I don't think Repubs control any blue states to hurt dems though, how many states have dems in control enough in red states to do something like this? obviously in California or New York this would be terrable.

Wow! This is huge.

I would maybe have supported him.

this system should be in place in mass. the dems would sweap all the congressional districts anyway.

nevadadem is right in sensing that proportional allocation would be a disaster for us in NY, CA, and others.

Florida is plurality Democratic, but with a big unaffiliated and third party bloc.  And it is horrifically gerrymandered favoring the Republicans.

If we used a Congressional District model to apportion Electors here, there would be almost no point in voting, the districts are so skewed.  You could just count the Congressional delegation and allocate by their numbers, in which Dems are at a huge and totally unrepresentative disadvantage.

Um, can't North Carolina actually "go blue" in 2008, perhaps if Edwards is our nominee?  People have been saying all along that NC could go blue under the right conditions, mostly from the rapidly declining popularity of the GOP.  Throw in a real challenge to Elizabeth Dole, and Gov. Easley's popularity, we could actually take all 15 electoral votes under the current winner-take-all system.

If that's the case, then Democrats would actually hurt themselves with this move, by giving the Republicans back at least 5 electoral votes.

Just like in Colorado, where it looks increasingly like we can take the whole enchilada in 2008, this may be a bad move.

The last Democratic presidential candidate to win North Carolina was Jimmy Carter in 1976.  Could Edwards win the overall vote in NC in 2008?  Sure he could.  But will he be the nominee?  I hope so.

In any case, I think it is safe to say we will come out ahead on this in most Presidential elections.

CD1: D 57.4%, R 42.4%
CD2: R 54.1%, D 45.6%
CD3: R 67.8%, D 31.9%
CD4: D 55.2%, R 44.3%
CD5: R 66.3%, D 31.9%
CD6: R 69.4%, D 30.2%
CD7: R 55.9%, D 43.7%
CD8: R 54.5%, D 45.4%
CD9: R 63.4%, D 36.3%
CD10:R 66.9%, D 32.7%
CD11:R 56.9%, D 42.5%
CD12:D 62.5%, R 37.1%
CD13:D 52.4%, R 47.2%

So in a decent Democratic year we should expect at least 4 electoral votes.  There are 4 more that are "potential" pickups...aka Bush got less than 60% in 2004.  Three of those four districts are represented by Democratic Congressmen (Etheridge, McIntyre, Shuler) and the fourth is Larry Kissell's district.

John Edwards is jumping for joy right now!

This is great news to hear. Best of all, it will probably increase Democratic voter turnout in 2008...seeing as how voting Democratic won't be entirely futile.

This sucks for Edwards, who would gain 15 EVs from NC and not 6-10.

This also means that we MUST gain control of legislatures across the country, especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan and Texas.

Gerrymandering for the White House...not a good idea.  

How about win the state, get the electoral votes.  The founding fathers got it right.  Work within our system of Government and win it for the Dems.  

I'm an NC native and an Edwards supporter!

This is a cheap solution to a bigger problem.  Why make this anemic move to "adjust" the electoral college problem, when we should just abolish it altogether, or use the National Popular Vote plan - being debated in NC  right now - and have actual PEOPLE choose the president.

we have a better chance of winning virginia than we do winning North Carolina unless the Democratic nomaniee is Mike Easley. I'm not too sure that Edwards is too well liked anymore in North Carolina outside of Democratic circles

There will be a ballot initiative in Calif to do the same thing, that is give about 22 of Calif's 55
electoral votes to the Repubkican nominee. This is a TOTAL DISASTER, making it impossible for a Democrat
to win the presidency -- this move in NC is a total
head fake,give us three EV, take away 22.

The solution is http://NationalPopularVote.com,
already passed in MD and in about eleven state legislative bodies.
Get behind REAL reform, not a sucker play.

When I first read the story, I was excited, but the voices of reason in this thread have convinced me this is a bad idea.  Congressional districts can easily be gerrymandered.  Kerry only won something like 150 Congressional districts, despite getting 48% of the popular vote.

Sure, this plan could give us 3 or so votes in North Carolina.  We could even conceivably win a vote in Nebraska, given the right circumstances, but it's not a good trade off.  

I hate the electoral college system.  I would like to see it abolished.  But before that, you would have to institute a public financing of campaigns to cover the astonishing costs and prevent the whole system being (even more) taken over by rich candidates.  In the meantime, delegate electoral votes through proportional representation.

I don't think it will make that much of a difference. The states that were the difference maker in 2004 were IA, NM and OH. If the dems win IA and NM without carrying OH it won't make a difference.  The Dems still need either FL or OH to win the election.

As someone from MD, I hate our state creating this joke of a system on the national popular vote.

This means MD's votes, which are reliably Democratic, could then go to a Republican because the 49 other states said so.

The voters in my state should be offended that in Annapolis, they are willing to take the views of 49 other states and apply them to Maryland, even if we disagree.

This system would have given our electoral votes in 2004 to George W. Bush.  That to me is unacceptable when we resoundingly voted against him.

What do you all think about the Clinton-Obama row over meeting with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela and North Korea?

Personally, though Clinton seemed more measured, her answer delivers us more of the same.  I really liked Obama's fresh approach.  

This is an important issue that is key to reversing the damage that Bush/Cheney has done to American image in the world.  Vote on your preferenc on http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid= 249

Make your voice heard.  It's important.