If the Electoral college were reformed (or even done away with ) would the American political landscape really experience a drastic change? As I see it, we'd still be electing Republicans and Democrats and the same sort of partisan nonsense would be going on. Currently the real power is not with the President or members of Congress or even those dastardly state legislatures that draw up Congressional boundaries. The power lies within the two political parties themselves. If a member of Congress wants his pet bills to get voted on, he must show that he is a "team player". Too many defections from party votes will relegate the member to the worst committees and doom his/her chances of getting any of his/her bills voted on, let alone passed. The same is true of the President: if he/she defects too much from the party line, then he/she can expect an unfriendly Congress.

If we really want to reform the American political system, why not do something that might actually have an impact, like getting rid of the two party system? I recall seeing visualizations of the 2000 elections which suggested that most states are not purely red or purely blue, but are instead purple. Why not add more opinions into the mix? Instead of asking whether everyone's favorite color is red or blue, why not add some more colors to the mix?