David Broder, dean of inside-the-Beltway political pundits, often accurately captures the insiders’ conventional wisdom. That’s what makes his Washington Post column yesterday so revealing. He casually calls North Carolina and Indiana “throwaway” states unworthy of the attention they received in Democratic primaries on May 6th.

“Throwaway”? Is this American democracy we’re talking about?

Sadly, the answer is yes. Broder’s appalling observation is based on the cruel reality of today’s Electoral College system: a few states matter, and most states are so “unimportant” that they are “throwaways.” The people of North Carolina and Indiana — and indeed most of the nation — may care about America just as much as the people of Ohio and Iowa, but fundamentally they are irrelevant. They live in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Broder is right that the major nominees will at most make token appearances in those states after securing their party’s nomination.

Indeed, following this logic, Broder suggests these states shouldn’t even count in primaries. He audaciously suggests that “In a sensible nominating system, these states would never become important battlegrounds. Lots of people complain that Iowa and New Hampshire enjoy disproportionate influence because of their place at the start of the process. But both are closely contested in November — not throwaways.“

For Broder, it’s sensible that if a state is irrelevant in November it should be irrelevant in the nomination process. Long live the POTSSOA — President of the Swing States of America.

Count me out of Broder’s vision of elections. Instead, let’s:

* Enshrine nomination processes that make all states and territories relevant - you can see a mix of ideas for reform on our site FixThePrimaries.com site, including the American Plan, rotating regional primary, national plan and Ohio Plan

* Have more states join Maryland, Illinois, Hawaii and New Jersey in the National Popular Vote agreement — one that will go into effect once there are enough participating states to guarantee the White House for the winner of the popular vote in all 50 states.

No vote should be unimportant. No state should be a throwaway.

Other posts by Rob Richie

• Founding FairVote backer and Cincinnati legend Harris Weston dies - July 4th, 2009
• Sarah Palin's resignation to reduce women governors to six - July 3rd, 2009
• Delaware house votes 2 to 1 for National Popular Vote - 29th chamber in 18th state - June 24th, 2009
• Obama's political team: Expediency over principle in "working" Electoral College rather than reforming it - June 21st, 2009
• Special interests upset with instant runoff voting in San Francisco - and broader lessons - June 21st, 2009
• FairVote chair Krist Novoselic makes key point about rights of association in candidacy - June 17th, 2009
• Brennan Center's new report on universal registration joins FairVote in highlighting Canadian model - June 16th, 2009
• Instant runoff voting in Australia: Guest blogger Ben Raue - June 16th, 2009
• Washington, D.C. City council has chance to make D.C. a "beacon of democracy" - June 13th, 2009
• Slamdunk win in Minnesota Supreme Court highlights big week for instant runoff voting - June 12th, 2009