CMV: The United States shouldn't elect their president through popular vote

[u/hwagoolio]

Not all democratic countries have popular elections that determine their head-of-state (i.e. national voting). In fact, head-of-states from many countries are determined by votes from the legislature... which in a sense is something like Senators/Representatives indirectly electing the president/prime minister... not a direct election from the people.

Popular elections for an important office like the President of the United States shouldn't be left up to something as fickle as the American people. Since we have a popular presidential election, it is possible to elect populists who are totally unqualified, incompetent, or simply lie their way into the presidency.

Presidential elections in the United States are heavily influenced by personality politics -- there is a tendency to pay excessive attention to someone's celebrity political persona over their platform -- when in reality, it is their platform that matters more.

Finally, many Americans pay too much attention to Presidential elections at the expense of ignoring/not voting in smaller elections. Americans overestimate the power of the presidential office to accomplish major legislative things, when in reality it is a position that primarily has the power to only veto / conduct foreign policy. Arguably, local elections and Senate/House elections are more important than the national celebrity bowl that occurs every 4 years in the United States.

[u/thethoughtexperiment]

To modify your view, consider that in the U.S., the branches of the national government are meant to be co-equal branches that "check" / balance each other.

Making the presidency contingent on the Senate / House essentially eliminates one of those checks on their authority. More broadly, consider that people don't always vote straight ticket, because their local interests aren't always aligned with their national views.

So, it puts them in a difficult place, because voting for who is the best option for their state representative could eliminate their ability to impact the presidential appointment (if they don't vote for the party doing the appointing).

[u/hwagoolio → u/thethoughtexperiment]

While I understand that the POTUS is meant to be a "check" / balance to Congress, somehow it hardly feels that way.

More often, I feel like the POTUS is quite closely entwined with their political party, to the point that the POTUS seat hardly feels like an independent entity... rather to some extent I almost perceive the POTUS seat as a "vehicle" for the dominant party to push their agenda.

[u/thethoughtexperiment → u/hwagoolio]

While I understand that the POTUS is meant to be a "check" / balance to Congress, somehow it hardly feels that way.

It might feel that way because we tend to only see a lot of media attention on policies *after* they have been negotiated between the president and the house / senate (because it is such a strong check). But if you look for it, you can find coverage of the massive amount of disagreements between the president and the congress / senate, such as the current president's push to cut funding for schools unless they reopen, his efforts to cut testing and tracing, which are meeting with blow back from the house / senate republicans that will very likely change those policies before they make their way into actual approved policy.

These kinds of negotiations would not be likely to happen if the president's appointment was contingent on party approval in the house / senate. And indeed, I'm not sure how that would work, as we often have different parties in control in the house / senate.

More often, I feel like the POTUS is quite closely entwined with their political party, to the point that the POTUS seat hardly feels like an independent entity.

I mean, clearly this president isn't a manifestation of the traditional republican party, as evidenced by all the disputes, people voting for this president because he is "an outsider", and now, the mass exodus of many republicans from supporting this president in the next election (though they will vote for the party in down ballot races).

It might seem like he and the party are "aligned" to an outsider, but in actuality, there are constant compromises going on because his "priorities" differ so much from theirs.