US Electoral College system, archaic: Analyst

Protests have erupted in cities across the United States after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the November 8 presidential election. The demonstrations have continued for the third consecutive night, with at least one protester being shot during clashes in Portland, Oregon.

Brian Becker, a member of the ANSWER Coalition, believes the US government has a very “archaic” Electoral College system which gives additional weight to southern states and rural areas with smaller populations.

“Donald Trump lost the popular vote in the United States but won some of the key battleground states in industrial areas that have been very, very harmed by so-called free trade policies and by deindustrialization that favor the rich and the banks,” the analyst told Press TV.

“So even though [Democratic presidential candidate Hillary] Clinton won the popular vote, she lost some of the key battle ground states and thus lost the Electoral College,” he added.

He further argued that if Bernie Sanders had been the candidate of the Democratic Party he would have crushed Donald Trump.

Therefore, he said, the Democratic Party establishment has shot itself in the foot by sabotaging the bid of Bernie Sanders.

He also stated because Hillary Clinton represents the elites in the Democratic Party establishment, and she is the voice of Wall Street, she failed to reach the voters in those rural areas but Bernie Sanders could have.

Becker further opined that it is the “carving capitulation” by the Democratic Party establishment over and over again to the "forces of the far-right" in the United States that have allowed them to ascend to the point where they are today.

He also asserted that Donald Trump represents the “epitome” of right-wing and racism which is the reason why people are in the streets right now all over the country.

According to the analyst, the US government represents a “global empire” but it is not good at governance at home.

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