# Hank Williams Jr. Doesn't Like the Electoral College. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134 "2009-09-07T02:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/21 "2009-09-07T08:08:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t remember much more than a litte grousing about the EC in 2001. There should have been much more grousing about it in my opinion. But Williams sounds like an idiot and there’s no reason anybody should care what he has to say about the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/22 "2009-09-07T08:16:16Z")
At this point he’s just a harmless singer. But in 2012… > [@Wikipedia](#): > > On November 17, 2008, Williams announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/23 "2009-09-07T08:23:02Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Wasn’t there all sorts of complaining about the electoral college on this board back in 2001? Why criticize Williams for advocating it now? Because he’s hurting my position by promoting it out of partisanship and ignorance. He’s handing ammo to the idiots who would try to tar me with the same brush. In other words: “Get off my side, Williams!” ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/24 "2009-09-07T09:30:03Z")
[Hillbillies](http://static.pyzam.com/img/funnypics/7/freakedoutredneck.jpg)are funny! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/25 "2009-09-07T11:13:12Z")
With apologies to Waylon and Willie: Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be presidents, Don’t let 'em give speeches or ride limousines, Let 'em be skinheads or klansmen or queens, Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be presidents, 'Cause they’ll make up dumb rules and they’ll turn into fools, Even with a country they love. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/26 "2009-09-07T11:23:09Z")
[Peter Griffin] And now [Conway Twitty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67GSo3MxGi0) [/Peter Griffin] ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/27 "2009-09-07T11:29:55Z")
Hank Williams Jr. also is against President Obama addressing school children, but mainly because he doesn’t like schools. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/28 "2009-09-07T12:04:34Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t remember much more than a litte grousing about the EC in 2001. Sure there was. It’s what led to Maryland, and some other states I don’t know right off, passing legislation saying that if 270 electors’ worth of states pass similar legislation, they’ll have their electors vote for whoever won the national popular vote. If enough states pass it, the electoral college is dead. Hank’s music sucks anyway. I can still like Hank Williams _Sr_., right? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/29 "2009-09-07T12:09:19Z")
Inquiring minds want to know what Charlie Daniels has to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/30 "2009-09-07T12:13:56Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > At this point he’s just a harmless singer. But in 2012… Finally, a GOPer can play songs at his various campaign stuff and not receive a ‘Cease and Desist’ letter from an angry musician. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/31 "2009-09-07T13:17:11Z")
Hank Williams statement, along with any comment made by \*\*any \*\*“celebrity” rates a **who gives a rats ass** what they think response ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/32 "2009-09-07T13:51:51Z")
After the 2000 election, **Hillary Clinton** did the same thing. [She called for an end to the electoral college](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/11/10/politics/main248645.shtml): > [@](#): > > We are a very different country than we were 200 years ago," Clinton said. "I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people and to me, that means it’s time to do away with the Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/33 "2009-09-07T13:58:12Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > After the 2000 election, **Hillary Clinton** did the same thing. [She called for an end to the electoral college](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/11/10/politics/main248645.shtml): Whether you agree with her or not, at least she had her facts straight. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/34 "2009-09-07T14:36:37Z")
What’s your point, **Crafter\_Man**? Hoping to catch us in some sort of hypocrisy? After all, every liberal loves Hillary Clinton… ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/35 "2009-09-07T14:39:41Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > After the 2000 election, **Hillary Clinton** did the same thing. [She called for an end to the electoral college](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/11/10/politics/main248645.shtml): God, you’re stupid. > [@wikipedia](#): > > On November 17, 2008, Williams announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 And with zero percent of the vote in, we’re ready to call it. Hank Williams Jr. has lost to his unnamed opponent. _ **Unnamed Opponent** _ is your senator-elect from Tennessee! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/36 "2009-09-07T14:41:48Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Whether you agree with her or not, at least she had her facts straight. Exactly - there are reasoned arguments on both sides, for and against having an electoral college. She chose to make an argument against but didn’t have her head up her ass in the process, unlike Mr. Williams. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/37 "2009-09-07T15:04:52Z")
Well, if we didn’t have the electoral college then Gore would have been President in 2000, probably leading to a highly contentious 2004 election. Should Gore have won again, it is not improbable that in 2008 Lieberman would have been the Democratic nominee or that the Republicans would have won the election. Obama may not have been the president. However, I doubt that’s what Hank meant. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/38 "2009-09-07T16:33:44Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Wasn’t there all sorts of complaining about the electoral college on this board back in 2001? Why criticize Williams for advocating it now? As others have pointed out, Williams is not being criticized simply for complaining about the Electoral College. He’s being criticized for: a) being a hypocrite. If Bush would have lost without the EC, why wasn’t Williams concerned about it back then. b) being factually incorrect. Without the EC, Obama still would have won comfortably, unless the system that replaced the EC consisted of “The only votes that will be counted are the votes of morons like Hank Williams, Jr.” Personally, i think there are problems with the EC, and i’m happy to discuss them at any time—after a Bush victory, or after an Obama victory—because the problems are structural and fundamental, and are not related to who happens to win any particular election. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/39 "2009-09-07T17:01:00Z")
Everyone here is saying how Williams is stupid, because Obama garnered a majority of the popular vote. That’s a valid point; however, maybe Bocephus is thinking that without Lincoln as president, Obama never would have had the opportunity to run. (This is the man who wrote the song “If the south woulda won,” after all.) So maybe he’s looking back to the election of 1860, when Lincoln won with less than 40% of the popular vote. Okay. Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134/40 "2009-09-07T17:54:11Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > The criticism is because he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Obama won both the popular vote _and_ the Electoral College, so he would be President even without the Electoral College. > > He’s taking a stance that is usually taken by some on the left, and he’s doing so out of ignorance. Almost certainly that’s true. But there is a way to fanwank his statements into something approaching truth. Consider this: without the Electoral College, the pattern and method of campaigning would change dramatically. The primary system would be virtually unrecognizeable. Obama’s careful study of the primary system; his grass-roots organization that made such stellar use of the caucus rules in states that had them; all of that would be different. Now, it’s anyone’s guess how a first-term junior senator from Illinois would have fared under that system, but I think it’s at least a matter for debate that he would not be President today if the Electoral College didn’t exist. [/fanwank] Myself, I prefer to stick with: “Sex clubs should be outlawed! After all, if jack Ryan hadn’t tried to fuck his wife in front of onlookers, Obama wouldn’t be President today!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-jr-doesnt-like-the-electoral-college/509134.md?page=3)