My vote will not count

Six days to go. How many other people are counting down? They say that 120 million people could vote in this election.

Right now, I'm mostly pissed off that MY VOTE WILL NOT COUNT. It won't. I'll vote for Kerry, but because Californians will vote for Kerry in overwhelming numbers and thus California's electoral votes will go to Kerry no matter what, my vote won't count. If I were in a friggin' "battleground state" -- oh, how I hate hearing those words together -- my vote would be extraordinarily important. But no. I'm just another Californian who will cast a vote for Kerry and then wring my hands while the votes are counted in Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa...

Election reform should start with an abolition of the electoral college, that relic of the 18th century. While I have respect for most old things, this is not a thing that deserves respect, any more than other 18th century ideas, like, say, slavery and child labor and a woman's inherent inferiority. I think that abolishing the electoral college would have broad bipartisan appeal. I mean, no matter that my vote won't count, a vote for Bush in California REALLY won't count. At least in a true direct democracy, all the votes would count.