The K5 - elementary education for parents

Yep, didn’t think so.  It’s one of those things that most adults don’t get, and definitely do not like to explain.  I am going to simplify it, and some may say, over-simplify it.  Here we go.

If you look at these potential results that I created on the Los Angeles Times website and have your kid count the states, it looks like John McCain should win, 29 states to 21.  But why at the top does it say “Obama 279   McCain 259”? 

“But McCain won more states?  This doesn’t make sense!” 

Here’s where the trick comes into play.  You explain that the presidential election isn’t exactly about winning states, and that it’s not even about winning each person’s vote (you might want to bring that up later), but it’s about winning the most electoral votes (if you need a refresher, click here) 

Now, look at this map.

Each state has a different amount of electors, based upon the number of senators and representatives they have.  Each and every state has two United States senators.  But each state has a different number of Unites States Representatives, otherwise known as Congressmen or Congresswomen, which is based upon the population of that state.  For example, my home state of California has 55 electoral votes:  2 for the US Senators and 53 for the 53 US Representatives.  A state like Wyoming has only 3 electoral votes.  They have 2 US senators, just like every other state, but only 1 US Representative, because so few people live there. 

So, if you look at the map above that I created, although John McCain won more states, Barack Obama won more electoral votes.

Then you explain this part.  Look at this map.  In the year 2000, even though Al Gore won the popular vote, George Bush won the electoral vote, so he became president.  And that was the first time that happened in over 100 years. 

So, now they know, and hopefully, now you know. 

 “And why do they do it this way?” they might ask. 

Well, it’s because many people believe that if the election were solely based upon the popular vote, than the states, like Wyoming, with fewer people living in them, would have very little power.  This way, they have more power, and candidates visit those states while campaigning.  

And I recommend going to the LA Times website to create your own predictions, and have your kid create their own prediction, too. 

So, there it is.  Good luck explaining.  And one other thing:  there isn’t a better lesson about the power of democracy than bringing your kid into the voting booth with you and letting them see how it is done. 

 See you on November 4^th.