31.   But direct election may be adopted to create a better link between lawmakers and their constituencies, and that could put more emphasis on the finances of individual politicians.

32.   But James Madison of Virginia worried that such a system would hurt the South, which would have been outnumbered by the North in a direct election system.

33.   But Robert Dallek, a Boston University historian, said that direct election of presidents could foment political instability.

34.   But, in the absence of other controls on spending, direct elections might give even more power to free-floating political machines.

35.   Direct elections would also tend to provide fertile ground for minor parties, which currently find it hard to break through into national politics.

36.   Direct elections at the township level are not constitutionally permitted, but a few places in China have experimented with them in recent years.

37.   Direct election would resonate far better with the American value of one person, one vote.

38.   Direct election would require the candidates to seek the votes of all Americans.

39.   Durbin is co-sponsor of a proposed constitutional amendment that would require direct election of presidents, ending the two-centuries-old system of state-based electors.

40.   Eliminating the Electoral College in favor of direct elections would take years to accomplish, if at all, because it would require an amendment to the Constitution.