The Popularity of Voting

It seems that every minute of the day the upcoming election is present. Whether its a conversation in class, the news, the radio, a tee-shirt, or at the lunch table people are constantly involved with the election and everyone has an opinion. I find it interesting that this wouldn't have been the case 200 years ago.  When the Constitution was first created the only people allowed to vote were the members of the Electoral College. Members of the Electoral College were typically wealthy white land owners. The Constitutions creators did not trust the ordinary citizen to be capable of making the decision of who our President should be. 

I wonder how the Presidential Election of 2008 would differ from our countries first elections?   Today any US citizen over the age of 18 can vote, regardless of their gender, race, occupation or social status.  If our election process hadn't changed, I doubt the Candidates would be paying for 30 minute advertisements on major networks or that the media would be as involved in all aspects of the campaigns. However, the ultimate decision remains in the control of the Electoral College, a fact I often forget due to the constant bombardment of media that tells voters how important their decision is. I do believe that the Electoral College is an important institution because many voters will vote on the candidate based on how he appears in the media, their vote will not be based on the candidates qualifications or policies. The Electoral College continues to ensure that the President  will ultimately be put into power by people who are well educated on the current issues and how each candidate plans to address them.