AN AFTERNOON SPENT JUDGING DEBATE ROUNDS AT SACRAMENTO STATE ON THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE............

Ihave have just returned from spending several hours with Joe Gibson at our alma mater, Sacramento State University; judging preliminary rounds of student debates in the, "Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Debate Series" today with the topic being : Resolved - 'The Electoral College is no longer necessary in the election of the President of the United States'.  The basis for judging the debaters were their Display of Logic, Reasoning, and Analysis; to Utilize Evidence but not be Driven by it; to Present a Clash of Ideas; the ability to Counter the Arguments of the Opponents in Rebuttal; to Communicate Ideas with Clarity, Organization, Eloquence, and when appropriate, Humor.  The two rounds each Joe and I judged were very good expositions of the Arguments in the Affirmative and Negative positions on the Topic of abolishing the Electoral College.  As judges we were given the opportunity to pose questions to each of the debaters asking to clarify or expand on their arguments and to offer commentary on their debating  at the conclusion of their presentations before evaluating their effectiveness in a confidential marking of a Debate Ballot scoring them.  After a set of elimination rounds, the competition will conclude with a final round with the top two debaters today, who will be judged by a blue ribbon panel of judges, including Professor Barbara O'Connor, Sac State Communications / Debate alumnus, Craig Jones, State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, Sacramento Bee political editor Dan Walters, Capitol Public Radio correspondent Beth Ruyiak, and California State Broadcasters Association director, Stan Statham, a former television news anchorman and state assemblyman.  As a student of the American Presidency and a close follower of the dynamics and history of the Electoral College, I was delighted to have the opportunity to serve as a part of the proceedings today and I am thankful to Joe for recruiting me to assist him.  The four rounds combined we adjudicated were a wonderful and worthwhile way to spend a sigbnificant part of this Saturday. one month to the day until the 2012 Presidential Election and the role the Electoral College will play in its outcome............Fr.  Troy