George Rebane
On 19 February last, I broadcast on KVMR and posted here a commentary titled ‘Democracy Destroys the Electoral College’. Subsequently I submitted an edited version of the piece to The Union which published it in its 6mar20 print and online editions (here). The commentary was of a piece and amplified my longstanding agreement with our Framers who warned us against the dangers of democracy in governance, especially at the federal level where overarching matters of national import are decided.
The Union’s online version of my commentary has elicited a long comment stream of pros and cons. By number, most of the comments were con in the sense that they are in support of electing at least the president by popular national vote. The Left has been a longtime proponent of having us abandon our constitutional republic in favor of maximizing the use of the plebiscite (or referendum if we want to split hairs) to decide matters of governance. Unfortunately, a number of prominent Republicans have also weighed in on the side of electing the president by popular vote – i.e. bypassing the Electoral College.
The Left’s motivation, in America and elsewhere, has been consistent in their correct assessment that large populations, especially those lightly read and tightly led, are predictably malleable. This guarantee redoubles when a political ideology gains control of public education for a generation or more – ours since around 1970. Our history gives pause to many like me as we consider the views of some otherwise more reliable politicians.
In 1913 we took a major step away from what our Founders bequeathed us when we ratified the 17th Amendment to the Constitution to permit election of federal senators by popular vote. Since then, the several states have each implemented more pure democracy into their elections, both to politically shield and secure timid politicians and to assure outcomes desired by the party in power. California again is the posterchild of such ‘progress’ in governance.
But the problem with democracy is the same as with socialism, since they always start their journey hand-in-hand. Of course, as many of us know, socialism will always at some point along the way begin to dispense with democracy as its governing elites gain power and restructure the state into a derivative form of dismal and stultifying autocracy. But, like a frog being slowly parboiled, by the time the population realizes this after having been increasingly succored on socialism, it will be too late. At that point, outside forces notwithstanding, the remaining choices are acceptance of a moribund future, or violent revolution. With socialism, as with pregnancy, it’s very difficult to remain with just a ‘little bit of it’
Perhaps there is a better way of electing our president. But today, turning the decision over to an incipient ochlocracy that knows little of the history and operations of governance, and less about how our existing system works, seems to me like a bad idea. We should make haste slowly to change what we have.
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