Here's an elegant way to change the electoral college, and one that seems to be gaining some political traction. I've always liked the idea of doing away with the college, if only for the sake of conceptual transparency -- although I do think there's the potential aggravation of dealing with ballot counting on a nationwide basis rather than in contested areas. I haven't read Koza's 620-page plan, but presumably it details some follow-up federal legislation to bring polling procedures in line with each other. Certainly if enough states form a coalition on this it will force Congress's hand.
The article mentions the possibility that such a change would force presidential candidates to focus on large urban areas. This may be partly true, but I think more importantly we would see a lot more sophisticated political marketing targeted at different kinds of demographic groups that have nothing to do with location of residence. It has the potential to dramatically increase the political power wielded by large constituencies that are either easily mobilized or easily marketed to.
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