Day279 Saturday 06/04/11

ran 3.8 miles
Some stats and facts about the state of North Carolina:

• North Carolina was the twelfth state to join the union on November 21, 1789, one year before Rhode Island and one year after New York.

• Population, as of 2010, is 9,535,483.

• Senators are Richard Burr (R) and Kay Hagan (D).

• Representatives are George Butterfield (D), Renee Ellmers (R), Walter Jones (R), David Price (D), Virginia Foxx (R), Howard Coble (R), Mike McIntyre (D), Larry Kissell (D), Sue Myrick (R), Patrick McHenry (R), Heath Shuler (D), Melvin Watt (D), and Bradley Miller (D).

• North Carolina has fifteen electoral votes. Historically, the state voted nearly exclusively blue from 1876 through 1964. Beginning in 1968, North Carolina has voted almost entirely red. Barack Obama ended the Republican trend by beating McCain 49.7% to 49.4%. North Carolina voters cast 4.3 million votes and the decision came down to merely 14,000 votes. In 2012, North Carolina will be one of the most battled-for swing states.

I’ve been posting these facts and stats for each individual state for the past thirty-three weeks. I’ve gathered some interesting history and realized certain things I never would have considered, otherwise. For example, the nine most populous states claim more than half of America’s total population. The twenty-five least populous states harness less than one-sixth of the U.S. population. Make of that what you will, but I can say, regarding our electoral college, something about the overwhelming differences in those two sets of numbers seems frustrating and highly consequential. I am not suggesting that popular vote alone should be the deciding factor in determining what single man or woman gets to sit in the Oval Office, but nor am I dismissing it as a better idea. Popular vote would have been a game changer on some occasions in the past. It is a different approach, yet it equally lacks any strategy or planning for the presidential election process we currently have.

This is what rattles me. A state like California, a state that if the other forty-nine states aspired to be like or viewed America through the same set of eyes with, a state who's example would lead to monumental failure the likes of which America has never before seen, has such a population and so many electoral votes. The questionable legislation California passes in their own state compared to the failures the state faces constantly and the bailouts their decisions cause the federal government, my and your money, the businesses they force out of their state with high taxes and incomprehensible restrictions, sending these businesses to states like Texas who legislate and think rationally, completely losing out on opportunity in their own front yard---and this state, California, has the electoral power to negate the rational thinking of ten other states in our union.

1,254.5 miles to go.