Dukakis Debates Merits of Electoral College

For most of U.S. history, the electoral college was a largely irrelevant constitutional relic. That changed in 2000, though, when George W. Bush lost the national popular vote but still claimed the presidency by winning a majority of electoral votes, which are generally awarded to the winner of each state.

That highly controversial outcome has spawned many, so far unsuccessful, efforts to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Today, the latest of these efforts arrives on Beacon Hill, where the House of Representatives is set to vote on a plan to change the way the state awards its electoral votes.

Among the plan's proponents is former Massachusetts governor and former democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. He joins us to talk about what's known as the 'national popular vote' plan.