Three Democratic senators will abolish the electoral college on Monday, just over a month after President-elect Trump surprised Democrats by overwhelmingly winning all seven battleground states and defeating three Senate Democratic incumbents in the process. A proposed constitutional amendment was announced.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), leading members of the progressive wing of the Senate, support direct election of the president. Arguing that the time has come to “restore democracy” by acknowledging just a popular vote.
Senators are troubled by the fact that the Electoral College has twice selected candidates who failed to win the popular vote in the past 19 years. In both cases, Republicans occupied the White House. George W. Bush became president in the 2000 election and Trump became president in the 2016 election.
“In an election, whoever gets the most votes should be the winner. It's that simple,” Schatz said. “No one's vote should be weighted based on where they live. The electoral college system is outdated and undemocratic. It's time to end it.”
Indeed, if the 2024 election had been decided by popular vote, Trump would have won.
He received 77,300,739 votes to Vice President Harris' 75,014,534.
But many Democrats say Trump would have had a better chance of defeating Harris if she had more reason to focus on narrowing the gap to victory in populous Democratic strongholds like California, Illinois and New York. I'm thinking.
But Republicans also have large, populous states like Florida and Texas squarely in their fold.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Durbin claimed that the Electoral College “disenfranchises millions of Americans.”
“In 2000, before the general election, I introduced a bipartisan resolution to amend the Constitution and abolish the Electoral College.I still believe it is time to abolish this 18th century invention. I believe that,” he said.
While Democrats advocate progressive policies that candidates need to address in primaries to appeal to the party's base, winning presidential tickets in battleground states is becoming increasingly difficult. I am concerned about this.
“What's always worth reminding people is that it's really hard for Democrats to win in battleground states, okay?” David Plouffe, a senior adviser to Harris' presidential campaign, said last month. He said this on Crooked Media's “Pod Save America.''
“Look at Pennsylvania, where 25 percent of voters are liberal and about 34 percent are conservative,” Plouffe explained. “So in every battleground state, there are more conservatives than liberals.”
Democrats felt even more demoralized by Harris' loss. Harris dramatically outraised Trump, raising $1 billion for her campaign, and Future Forward, the super PAC supporting her, raised nearly $1 billion more.
Harris lost all seven of the presidential battleground states, including the three states that made up the “blue wall”: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Welch criticized the Electoral College as “outdated and flawed.”
“Our democracy is strongest when everyone’s voice is heard, and currently, due to an outdated and flawed Electoral College, our elections are not as representative as they should be. I am excited to work with my friends and colleagues, Senator Schatz and Speaker Durbin, on this important constitutional amendment that will empower every voter in every state.” he said.
Former first lady and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for abolishing the electoral college after winning the popular vote but losing the Electoral College vote in the 2016 presidential election.
“I think we need to eliminate that,” Clinton told CNN's Anderson Cooper in 2017. “I would like to see it move beyond that.”
