Alex surprised me today on the way to his school by mentioning that our state is amongst the ones “voting for President” tomorrow on Super Tuesday which I’m sure he saw on his favourite news programme this morning.
I explained to him as best I could in terms he’d understand that we weren’t really voting for the President but rather voting to choose who will be allowed to stand for election in November when we vote for the candidates on offer for real.
He seemed to understand that so I pressed on and explained that the voters don’t actually vote for the President directly but rather a set of electors who have pledged to vote for whichever candidate gets the most votes in the November election.
It seemed to me that whilst he might not understand WHY we have the Electoral College, he certainly seemed to get HOW it actually works and how being in a battleground state like ours actually means we will have much more of an impact on who is elected than most states.
That is actually refreshing in a day and age where most kids can’t even be bothered to know that there is an impending election much less the fact that even though they don’t have the vote yet, they still have a very real stake in the results and being aware of who is on offer and what they supposedly stand for.
Because the day will come very soon that they do have the privilege to vote and hopefully they will exercise it with wisdom and care. 🙂