ABC27 WHTM Should Pennsylvania divide its electoral votes?

Should Pennsylvania divide its electoral votes?

They visit. They campaign. Presidential candidates blitz the state, spending time and money trying to win your vote and Pennsylvania's electoral votes.

In 2008, John McCain spent more time in PA than any other state. Barack Obama spent a fortune on advertising and was rewarded with 21 electoral votes.

But prominent Republicans call the system flawed.

The winner-take-all system we have now benefits big cities, often at the exclusion of suburban and rural areas like where we live," said strategist Charlie Greow.

The senate's top Republican, Dominic Pileggi, has introduced a plan that would award electoral votes by Congressional districts. Pennsylvania has 18 of them, - mostly Republican. The other two votes would go to the overall winner.

Under Pileggi's plan, in 2008, Obama would've gotten 11 and McCain would have gotten 10.

"I think it's a terrible idea....I think it's a partisan power grab," said Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Phil) "We would know the electoral vote the day it's passed."

Critics also say the Commonwealth loses clout under the plan because candidates won't bother buying commercials due to non-competitive districts.  But former statewide Republican Chairman Alan Novak disagrees and calls the plan more fair than the current system.

"I think I'm gonna put ahead of all that glitz and glamour the core principals of making every voter feel like he or she is engaged," he said. "Every region is engaged and every vote matters."

Former presidential candidate and TV actor Fred Thompson was in Harrisburg pushing a different plan that would give Pennsylvania's electoral votes to whomever gets the most popular votes nationwide. He says Pileggi's plan has the same flaws as the electoral college.

"You could wind up with the minority president - somebody who didn't get the most votes," he said.