Enough with the idealogue crap. The reason for the electoral college is this:
There is a reason why this country is called the UNITED STATES of America, and not just AMERICA.
It was originally seen that each state would have it's own issues that were important to it. For example, the things that are important to people in an industrialized coastal city are far different from the people in a rural central state. This is reflected in the 10th amendment to the constitution which says that all rights and powers not already reserved to the federal goverment shall be reserved to the state and local goverments. This amendment also recognizes that it is FAR easier for an individual or small group to express their concerns and to have a say at the local level than at the federal level.
Therefore, the electoral collage keeps the small areas of high population on the coasts from imposing their will exclusively over the lower populations of the central states.
By making the votes of each state stand alone as a single decision (51% win in a state wins all the electoral votes for that state), while at the same time making that decision's importance determined by the population of the state, results in a system that both recognizes the popular vote, while allowing areas of the country that have their own issues to have a voice.
