Nobody knows why we have the electoral college. I'll repeat that (I think it bears repeating): nobody knows why we have the electoral college. There are many theories regarding its formation that historians love to debate, but we will never, ever know for sure.
That said, one of the theories that seems to make sense (which might in itself preclude its accuracy) is that the Founding Fathers never intended for the president to be voted into office. Rather, the president would be appointed by other duly elected officials (which over the years became the electors in the electoral college).
It's important to remember that the US was originally conceived as a republic in which each state would be sovereign unto itself. Under those circumstances, the presidency would NOT have been the highest nor the most powerful office in the land. Originally, the governors of each state had the most power. Of course, we all know that the US government is very different from the way it was initially conceived.
Anyway, the electoral college has been a bone of contention for some time, and every election year there's a big brouhaha in which people become incensed, and every year it blows over with nothing whatsoever being done to overhaul this archaic and deeply flawed system.
Why?
Well, the politicians don't do anything because it's an incredibly easy system to tamper with. And the citizenry doesn't do anything because by and large, it doesn't want to get off its collective duff (and thus risk missing the latest episode of Fear Factor, et al) and force a change. So confusion, chaos, and corruption reign.
(cue the last bar of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" being softly hummed by adorable 3rd graders, gradually swelling to a tearful crescendo) And that, my fellow Americans - and otherwise - is what the electoral college is all about.
(His - truth - is - mar- ching -ON!)
