Disclaimer: Yes, I know it won’t actually change the result.
Okay, now that’s out of the way. Why on earth aren’t Democrats, progressives, other left-of-center types, and even whatever passes for a neutral media talking more about the popular/electoral vote disparity right now? By most indications, HRC is going to come out with more votes than Trump once all the numbers are in, RIght now, she’s ahead by a little over 100,000 votes, and on CNN’s page California is still incomplete with three larger counties where she’s winning having reported less than 80% (Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Clara).
This is the second time in 16 years that this system has disadvantaged the Democrats. In 2000, I think we all got distracted by the Florida recount mess and both sides were so dug in over all the court battles that the popular vote sort of became an afterthought. I don’t know how the popular vote for the House is going to turn out when this is over but we know that Democrats won that vote in 2012 and came up short of a majority. A sizeable number of Americans must at least feel ambivalent about a system like this if they were aware of how frequently it’s producing these sorts of disparities.
And if anyone tries to claim that the Gary Johnson vote shows that the majority of the country is “center-right” or something like that...well, first of all, I think even Trump’s supporters would have to admit that he didn’t win based on a careful weighing of policy issues. I don’t think that all his voters are racists or bigots, but the ones who aren’t still probably voted out of a more general sense that their communities felt left behind in the modern world and that he was on their side and Hillary wasn’t. Second of all, Trump and Gary Johnson are about as alike as an elephant and a turnip. (That’s not to say that the Johnson vote clearly reflects a majority center-left country either, just that it doesn’t clearly reflect a majority center-right country.)
So where am I going with this? Well, our best chances of preventing a total disaster on the policy level over the next 2-4 years, given that the Republicans control the executive and the legislature — and still might after 2018 — is to make things like Obamacare repeal, block-granting Medicaid, walking away from clean energy, or drastic new immigration restrictions politically toxic to the point that congressional Republicans and/or Trump’s people decide not to go through with them. (Remember Bush and partial Social Security privatization in 2005?) Talking Point #1 for this ought to be that the popular vote gives them no mandate whatsoever to do those things. And the time to lay the groundwork for that is right now.