The notion that Romney would have won under a different electoral college system is dubious. [View all]

[reformist2]

It sounds like most of us by now have seen the articles telling us that if electoral votes were awarded by congressional district and only two for the statewide winner, as they currently do in Maine and Nebraska, that Romney would have won over Obama 276-262.

Here's the problem with that: When you run for president, you play to win according to the rules you're given. Obama and Romney went into the 2012 general election knowing it was still pretty much a state-by-state, winner-take-all kind of election, and both sides designed their strategies accordingly. If the electoral vote rules had been changed to this newly proposed method, rest assured the strategies on both sides would have been radically different.

I'm not saying that this new system the GOP wants to implement nationwide wouldn't help them a lot - what I am saying is that the GOP shouldn't kid themselves that victory is just a few rule changes away.