Is our presidential election process enough of a check on a president's power?

[Yavin4]

I'm hearing a refrain that the best check on Trump is simply vote him out of office instead of impeaching and further investigations. But given our electoral college system, an election may not be the best check on his power. Without a popular vote, the ability of the people to throw Trump out of office is throttled by an electoral college system which can be easily manipulated to give Trump another victory, and with that victory, he can claim that the American people absolved him of any real criminal acts.

IOW, he doesn't need to convince the entirety of the American voting public just enough voters in a few states. Think of a criminal defendant needing only one juror to hang the jury and then walking out free.

[Vinca]

1. Another thing we're ignoring is the Senate. If we have a Democratic POTUS and still have

Mitch McConnell, we might as well fold our tents and go home. "Morning Joe" has been talking about this lately and I'm starting to wish some of the people currently running for POTUS who must know they don't have a chance in hell should undertake a Senate run instead.

[Moostache]

2. AMEN!!!

Hickenlooper, O'Rourke, Booker, Klobuchar, Montana Governor "candidate #22" they all would have better chances at flipping or holding seats in the Senate than overcoming a 45 point deficit and 0% polling numbers.

A healthy field is 10 or fewer candidates and a final 4 following the first 4 primaries. We can still have vibrant debates without devolving into a clown car stage of 15+ podiums fighting for 3 minutes on an hour long "debate".

A Democratic POTUS with Cocaine Mitch running the Senate might as well not bother showing up for all the good that will get past the upper house...

[WA-03 Democrat]

3. Totally agree!!

[CrispyQ]

4. This.

Every repub senator up in 2020 should have a strong, well organized, well financed, dem challenger.

[bronxiteforever]

5. [phone]

[uponit7771]

7. +1

[uponit7771]

6. Only if they're free and fair, 2020 will ... ***NOT*** ... be more free and fair than 2016. Not when

... we already have people in Red Don's crew claiming it's OK to take information from the Russians.

No, that's not free and fair

[abqtommy]

8. Evidently Not!!!

[stopdiggin]

9. voting is the only thing we've got

"..presidential election process enough of a check on a president's power?"

Yes. It is. And it is the only real check the people have. I think I understand that you are pointing toward the electoral college .. but any correction or improvement there is a long, long (LONG) way down the road. In order to change something like the college you are going to have to win many, many elections, at both state and federal levels. (We are talking a constitutional amendment here, approved by 2/3rds of both House and Senate .. then ratification by 3/4ths of states) How do you propose to change the constitution if you can't win the electoral college?

The other "check" on presidential power is to have a functioning system of checks and balances in political structures. This is being hamstrung currently by the perfidy and lack of honor in one of our political parties. Again, the ONLY correction available is voting that political party out of power .. and, again, we will have to win many, many elections (both state and fed) in order to achieve this.

Time to get busy. But wishful thinking about a "popular vote" isn't going to get us there.