Conservatives should also favor a change because of the perverse incentives the electoral college creates.
By Henry Olsen Henry Olsen Columnist focusing on politics, populism, and American conservative thought Email Bio Follow Columnist March 21 at 4:39 PM Conservatives have predictably denounced the call from Sen. Elizabeth Warren to abolish the electoral college. They should rethink their opposition. It is in conservatism’s long-term interest to trade the college for a major reform of our voting system that works for both parties.
Note that there is no constitutional mandate for any electors to be selected by popular vote. That tradition grew as the nation’s taste for widespread democracy grew. By 1832, every state except South Carolina awarded its electors according to the popular vote for president, although not all states followed the winner-take-all custom that emerged later. Since 1868, every state has awarded its electors in some fashion to the winner of that state’s popular presidential tally.
The current political circumstances, however, have changed that dramatically. President Trump won in 2016 because his political coalition was efficiently distributed among states with a majority in the college. Moreover, the durability of that coalition despite withering criticism creates the strong possibility that he could be reelected in 2020 while losing the popular vote by an even greater margin. His successor in 2024 could win while losing the popular vote by still greater margins.
Continued endorsement of this system by conservatives and the Republican Party will, over time, convince a crucial segment of Americans, especially the young coming of age during this debate, that conservatives do not favor democracy. Forget the slanderous cries of “racist” and “fascist” frequently hurled by the left; if conservatives come to be seen as opposed to democracy itself, Americans will reject their cause.
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