Defeated Dems' latest pointless pursuit

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Defeated Democrats have once again embarked on a pointless, post-election pursuit of their political Holy Grail — finding the votes to eliminate the Constitution's Electoral College.

It's never going to happen, but that hasn't stopped three Senate Democrats from introducing a purely political amendment to change the election of presidents to a national popular vote contest.

This despite the fact that Donald Trump won the popular vote in 2024, and historically the winner of the Electoral College has lost the popular vote a handful of times in American history — the last time in 2016.

The Senate proposal — which surprisingly was not sponsored by either of Massachusetts' liberal senators — would need the approval of three-quarters of all 50 states and a two-thirds vote in Congress — a nearly impossible feat in this day and age.

Republicans now control the House and Senate and would never let the amendment even come for a vote.

So why do Democrats continue to target the Electoral College as their bugaboo?

Laziness.

It's a quick and easy fundraising tool for Democrats to raise cash off the backs of deluded supporters. Much the same as the bill to expand the Supreme Court, which also has zero chance of happening.

And it's fairly easy for Democrats to appeal to their partisan supporters to back a popular vote solution, which requires little explanation to their low-information voters.

Blaming the Electoral College for their presidential failures is not only bad politics but also inaccurate.

Yes, it stopped Al Gore and Hillary Clinton from winning the White House, but the fact is it's only happened a handful of times in American history.

The argument that somehow voters in more populous states are disenfranchised is also a fallacy.

Even Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren seemed to have moved on to other pursuits, like blocking Trump's Cabinet appointees.

And even liberal publications like The New Republic are ridiculing the Electoral College elimination plan as unrealistic and unnecessary.

They point out that it would be much easier for Democrats to simply increase the number of House representatives from 435 to more than 500, thereby giving populous states more power.

It's never been done since 1910 but at least would require only a vote of Congress, not a constitutional amendment.

The reason Democrats are grasping at straws is purely political — they realize their chances of winning the White House in the future are quickly slipping away due to their far-left policies and inability to connect with average voters in battleground states.

The 2024 election was not some kind of anomaly — it was a predictor of things to come unless Democrats radically change their way of thinking.

Their outdated formula for winning elections — cobbling together a majority of liberals, minorities and elites from the West and East coasts — is no longer feasible. Republicans are gaining among Black and Latino voters and capturing most voters in the middle, especially in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan — part of the crumbling "Blue Wall."

It's a bleak future for Democrats, with or without the Electoral College.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Joe Battenfeld
Boston Herald/(TNS)

Joe Battenfeld is a veteran Boston Herald political columnist and multimedia reporter.