Liberals consider an end-run around the Constitution

This is very troubling. If you can’t win elections the right way, change the rules.

The question of how we elect a president is up for debate again, with advocates of a majoritarian philosophy having invented a new device for moving to a direct popular vote for the chief executive.

Rather than going through the labors of amending the Constitution to replace the electoral college system with a national tally for president, which has failed every time it has been attempted, they have come up with a plan for bypassing the required two-thirds vote in the House and Senate and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Instead, the advocates propose that states with sufficient electoral votes — 270 of the 538 — to constitute an electoral majority enter into an interstate compact, pledging to give their votes to the candidate receiving the largest number of popular votes. That action could allow the legislatures of as few as 11 states to change the whole system of electing a president.

There is a system in place for changing the method by which we elect a president – it’s called a Constitutional Amendment, and those who support this “new” plan – among others the editor of the New Yorker, and the editorial page of the NY Times – know that such an amendment will never pass – hence, this disingenous bit of political engineering,

I remember seeing an interview with Al Gore, shortly before the 2000 elections – I’ve never seen the tape replayed, not in all the coverage of the Great Big Election Debacle of 2000 – but I remember it very clearly. He was standing, surrounded by reporters. One of them asked, “what happens if, as current poles indicate, Gov. Bush wins the popular vote, but you win the electoral vote?”

Gore’s response, naturally, was “that contingency has been provided for in the constitution and I assume it will be followed. The electoral college decides the issue.”

Not once, as I said, did I ever see that tape replayed. Recall, though, that immediately after she was elected to the senate, Hillary Clinton began calling for an end to the electoral college.

We allow this at our peril. We really can’t afford to allow a completely controlled press and the sublimation of our constitution play with our future as a democracy and a republic.