This is pretty funny.
The New York Times called for an end to the Electoral College in an editorial on December 19, calling it a “living symbol of America’s original sin.” But the paper was forced to issue an embarrassing correction when the editors all of a sudden remembered that they used to support the Electoral College. Even worse for the Times? That support came in 2000 when another Republican president lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College:
An earlier version of this editorial incorrectly stated that the editorial board has been opposed to the Electoral College going back 80 years. It failed to note an exception: in 2000, the board defended the college after the election of George W. Bush.
Whoops!
The 2000 editorial was titled, “The Case for the Electoral College” and the editors argued that, “The Electoral College was first and foremost a compact among states, large and small, designed to ensure that one state or one region did not dominate the others.”
The Times ended the editorial with:
The system has survived earlier instances in which the winner of the popular vote was denied the presidency. Wise voters and legislators will want to make sure that it survives this one as well.
So, what’s changed?
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