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Was the 12th amendment a mistake? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.ca
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Before the 12th amendment, the presidential candidate who got the second most electoral votes became the vice president. This meant they were usually different parties.

It occurred to me that one thing this achieved was always ensuring that there was someone in the room who would be willing to disagree with the president. He couldn't surround himself with yes-men.

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[โ€“] [S] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

It's the extra steps that are the point though, right? It's harder to get control of the presidency, Senate, and House than just controlling one of those.

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  • [โ€“] 2 points 2 months ago

    The only thing that makes it harder is the elections are staggered. They're all popular vote. You can do that without a senate. Removing lifetime appointments for 9 people and replacing them with a rotating pool has its own advantages, including not locking in control of the court for decades due to luck.

    Well, the executive was historically civil servants that persisted beyond administrations, but the project 2025 people don't believe in that.

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