The electoral college ensures that all states are given representation. Otherwise, you could campaign and win in a few states with large populations and the rest of the countyr wouldn't matter. Look at the map of blue/red states from the Bush Gore contest. Bush won the majority of the country even though Gore got more total votes. If the election was decided only by popular vote then most of the country would be dis-enfranchised. Kinda like being a Republican in NY or California.