The founding fathers created the Electoral College for two reasons. One reason is widely publicized, and the other usually isn't. The first reason was to make sure each state received a relative weighting that was not based solely on population. The great plains or wilderness state could have as much say as a densely populated state. The other reason was the founding fathers didn't trust the average person to be well read and educated enough to knowledgebaly select the country's leaders, but that they would always be intuitively knowledgeable enough to select the local electors to represent them who could. In these days of modern education and instant media information, people think this reason is obsolete, but not everyone agrees with that. One other huge factor why the electoral college will always exist, is that if there were no electoral college, then generally speaking, New York and California would always decide who wins the elections. And the other 48 states would probably have something to say about that.
