The Keys to the 2012 Election/Is the Electoral College an Obsolete Notion?

In previous journal entry in this community, I wrote about Professor Alan J. Lichtman of Harvard University and his book called The Keys to the White House in which he theorizes that there are 13 "keys" or conditions which serve as predictors of every presidential election. If 5 or fewer of these keys are false, the incumbent party wins the next election, but if 6 or more are false, the incumbent party loses the white house.



Yesterday I heard Professor Lichtman interviewed on POTUS (Politics of the United States) radio, in which he claims that only three of these are false, which means that President Obama will win the election if the pattern continues. I found this article in which Lichtman scored the Keys as follows:



I was fascinated by another discussion in the program in which Lichtman was asked whether the concept of the electoral college had any meaning in the modern world. He replied that he felt that it was an outdated notion and it should be abolished. I thought his arguments in support of this idea were interesting. First, he pointed out that the electoral college was instituted so that southern states could protect the institute of slavery. He also noted that under the current system, the most populated states like California, Texas and New York, never get to see the candidates because they are not "swing states". Lichtman supports the notion of having the presidency decided simply on the outcome of the popular vote.

So let me poll this community and see what you think of this idea. Should the electoral college be abolished? I welcome your comments.