Dems: If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Sue ‘Em
Democrats are pushing for ways to get around the Electoral College outside of seeking to amend the Constitution.
Hillary Clinton is not a fan of the Electoral College — shocking, we know. In a recent CNN interview, Clinton lamented the creation of America’s Founding Fathers, saying, “I think it needs to be eliminated. I’d like to see us move beyond it.” Well, we’re certain that if the shoe was on the other foot and Hillary were sitting in the White House after having won the Electoral College but not the popular vote she would be praising the wisdom of our Founding Fathers.
But Hillary is in the midst of her “blame everyone and everything for her election loss” book tour, so her perspective might just be a tad jaded. However, Democrats in general have grown frustrated with the Electoral College, as Donald Trump’s win marks the second time in recent history that a Republican won the presidency despite having lost the popular vote.
The trouble for those opposed to the Electoral College is that eliminating it would require the passage of a constitutional amendment. That’s a tall order, due to the fact that less populated states would likely not take kindly to the obvious prospect of further constraining their already limited political voice.
So Democrats are doing the next best thing — suing. That’s right, if you can’t win your opponents over based on the merits of your ideas, then seek to force them into capitulation via the courts. Brilliant. Several lawsuits have been filed in an attempt to strike down states’ winner-take-all electoral vote distribution. Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig says, “It’s crazy that our nation’s least-democratic election is the one for president.” That might be due to the fact that the U.S. is in fact a republic and not a pure democracy. A Harvard professor ought to know that.
The Electoral College was designed to guarantee that states, not mobs of individual citizens, elect the president. Just as citizens vote for representatives to be their voice in Congress, citizens vote for electors in their state to cast votes in accordance with the majority opinion within their state. Americans vote for people to represent their interests. This is not a hard concept to understand or embrace, but since it hasn’t recently helped Democrats win, they want to get rid of it.