But look at the attention being received by Nevada and New Mexico. If the president were popularly elected, these small states would be ignored. The candidates wouldn't care about states. They would care about big demographic groups, easily reached by mass media, in New York, Los Angeles and the other gigantic metro areas.

Besides wanting the president to be elected by the people, but through their respective states, the Founders also wanted major decisions about government filtered through succeeding layers of deliberation and refinement. They feared the passions of the moment, "tumult and disorder," "extraordinary or violent movements," in Hamilton's words.

They feared that a candidate with "talents for low intrigue and little arts of popularity," could seize upon the passions of the masses and be elected, trampling the rights of the minority. The Electoral College provides a more deliberative elective process, less likely to be exploited by a charismatic rascal.

In practical reality, the Electoral College has bolstered the two-party system by giving third parties little chance of success.

Eliminating it, said columnist George F. Will, "would be an incentive for minor parties to splinter the electorate, producing muddy mandates rendered in a raspy and uncertain national voice."

It boils down to this: Do we care about states? Do we care about federalism? Do we want to protect against the "tyranny of the majority?"

Joseph Ellis, professor of history at Mount Holyoke College, said the Electoral College may be a dinosaur, but it's far better than any alternative. "Once again," he said, "the founders were wiser than they knew."

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Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A recent candidate for Salt Lake mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House Minority Leader. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.