We're that much closer to President-elect Donald Trump once more taking office on January 20, just over a month away now, and Democrats still can't get over losing. On Monday, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Peter Welch (I-VT), introduced a plan to abolish the Electoral College via a constitutional amendment. The president would thus solely be elected by popular vote. The senators even went with the oft-repeated Democratic talking point, that their plan is about "restoring democracy," with Schatz referring to the plan as "undemocratic."
A post from the Judiciary Democrats' X account refers to their plan as a "bill." In order to abolish the Electoral College, though, which is described in the Constitution, Democrats have to do so through via the amendment process and cannot do so merely through a bill.
The Committee, including and especially Durbin, who is also the chairman and majority whip, should know better when putting out social media posts about their plan. This is nothing new from Durbin, considering he said he first introduced a resolution in 2000.
BREAKING: A group of Senate Democrats introduce bill to abolish the Electoral College, restoring democracy by allowing the direct election of presidents through popular vote alone.
— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) December 16, 2024
I first introduced a bipartisan resolution to abolish the Electoral College before the Bush-Gore general election in 2000.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) December 16, 2024
I still believe it’s needed today. https://t.co/APPwiDdCo2
Even the far-left outlet, The New Republic, referred to the plan as "a massive boondoggle for Democrats." The headline also declared that it shows how "clueless" the Democrats are.
Democrats love to rant and rave about "democracy," and the supposed threats to it and who poses it. The 2024 election was all about that, with Trump being denigrated as that throughout the campaign, even after there were multiple attempts on his life. The United States isn't a democracy, but rather a constitutional republic. Further, we've only ever known the Electoral College, so it's particularly nonsensical that abolishing it would be about "restoring" anything.
Durbin put out a quoted repost of his Committee's post, though he wasn't the only one to chime in. Many offered replies reminding that the process can't simply be done with a bill, to the tune of over 7,000 replies.
Someone should read Article V to you guys. Do you have any idea how this works? This is nothing but grandstanding theatrics. You know that you cannot get rid of the electoral college. The founders were infinitley more intelligent than all of you.
— Jo the Banlaoch. 🇺🇸 (@cailleach_feasa) December 17, 2024
That’s not how the Constitution works. Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 - 4 detail how electors are appointed & how they cast their votes for President and Vice President. Then read the 12th amendment for superseding updates. . Read the Constitution instead of grandstanding.
— Savannah (@BasedSavannah) December 16, 2024
This requires a constitutional amendment, not a bill.
— TheFlynDutchman 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇺🇸 (@FlynDutchman466) December 16, 2024
You’re just pandering.
“Restoring democracy”
— Sav! (@thisissavvy1) December 16, 2024
The electoral college has been a thing since 1787. George Washington assumed office in 1789. Restoring to what? We’ve never been a direct democracy.
Either way, this is a waste of time. You’ll need a constitutional amendment, and you'll never get the… https://t.co/giHfFj76xG
What’s next, repealing the Constitution’s requirement that states be represented equally in the Senate?
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) December 16, 2024
Luckily, a constitutional amendment to do that—even if it were somehow to succeed—still couldn’t take effect unless every state agreed to it
Article V makes that clear https://t.co/fDh23sMZwm
While Trump won both the popular vote and the Electoral College vote last month, with close to 50 percent of the vote and 312 electoral votes, that doesn't mean Democrats still don't believe they'll have a better chance at winning if elections were decided by the popular vote. Trump was the first Republican to win the popular vote since President George W. Bush did in 2004.
It also reflects a losing attitude, though, and a refusal to play by the rules that are in place. As The Hill mentioned on Monday in covering Democrats' plan, and listing out their grievances against the system:
Democrats are worried that it has become increasingly difficult to win on the presidential ticket in battleground states while advocating for the progressive agenda that candidates need to embrace in the primary to appeal to the party’s base.
“It’s always worth reminding people: It’s really hard for Democrats to win battleground states, OK?” David Plouffe, a senior adviser to Harris’s presidential campaign, told Crooked Media’s “Pod Save America” last month.
“Let’s look at Pennsylvania: 25 percent of the electorate is liberal, roughly, 34 percent is conservative,” Plouffe explained. “So in every battleground state, there’s more conservatives than liberals.”
Democrats felt all the more demoralized by Harris’s loss because she dramatically outspent Trump, raising $1 billion for her campaign while a super PAC supporting her, Future Forward, raised nearly another $1 billion.
Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris lost last month, Democrats have been in a state of denial and disarray, from complaints like those coming from the "Pod Save America" hosts, to Durbin and others introducing constitutional amendments that have no chance at succeeding. They're just going to keep losing with such an attitude.
The Democrats can pout and whine all they want, but the electoral college is NEVER going away.
— Pro America Politics (@Pro__Trading) December 16, 2024
Here's what it would take to get rid of the electoral college:
- A two-thirds (66.67%) majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
- Ratification by…
This is what fear looks like. Dems know their map keeps getting smaller while the Republican map now includes solid red states of Florida and Ohio.
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) December 16, 2024
After the 2030 Census, the new electoral map would have, if applied to the 2024 election, added 10 electoral to Trump’s total. https://t.co/1kpfBfTi0c
1. You need an amendment for that.
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) December 16, 2024
2. Democrats wanting to change the rules after a loss is so on brand.
3. Trump won the popular vote. https://t.co/DEtzwZWDte
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