Adam Schiff @RepAdamSchiff: A minority can use the Electoral College to elect a president who loses

[BeckyDem]

Link to tweet

( Imo, democracies in Europe would never tolerate the electoral college, a regressive garbage system we should no longer tolerate. The American people elected Hillary in 2016 if not for the EC...we must reform the system. )

Yay, Schiff!

[blm]

1. Dems, start saying Republican Minority Tyranny

[abqtommy]

2. I like to say reTHUG and sPUTIN Fascist ratfuckers have gotta go! nt

[BeckyDem]

4. yes

+1

[Diamond_Dog]

3. And five Supreme Court Justices

Were placed on the court by presidents who lost the popular vote.

[BeckyDem]

5. Exactly.

[2Gingersnaps]

17. And every one of the them Federalist Society hacks.

Because the Bill of Rights and Constitution as written does not put the thumb on the scale for the moneyed elite. The Bill of Rights and the Constitution were written based on the philosophy of John Locke and The Age of Enlightenment sweeping Europe at the time. The basic ideas of reason being the primary authority, people having the natural right to govern themselves through constitutional government, advancement of science for the improvement of life, and separation of church and state. We were not founded as any type of theocracy.

[jaxexpat]

33. Okay, however......

we were founded on the compromises made by those progressive, forward thinkers to the demands of wealthy planters, shipping interests and slave traders. Nothing much has changed, really, except for the slave traders. But, even after all these years, we've never come to a lasting consensus on their ex-slaves' place as free and equally valued citizens of an integrated society. This single handicap remains a huge player in modern politics. Between entrenched racism and sectional distrust of immigration, there is no viable political platform upon which to grow lasting homogeneity, only greater polarity. In fact, this hate and mistrust forms the crux upon which "conservatives" depend in their efforts to pry us apart for their own ends which they are too willfully blind to clearly see are bad for all, even them.

Did I forget to mention how "conservatives", like their mythical "planter" class heroes, are just too lazy to think all this through.

[Grins]

24. Three by a President who was impeached.

Yeah; we are a viable democracy…

[Polybius]

27. Actually four

Was four before RGB died, dropped to three for a month, and went right back up to four again.

[dchill]

6. Minority rule is their biggest tool.

[Thunderbeast]

7. One of the most dangerous constitutional flaws is the "Real America" narrative

It has morphed into the narrative that "wholesome white Christian midwestern farmers" enjoy moral superiority to those progressives living on the coasts. Their ideal world is a Norman Rockwell painting from the 40s.

It is how they can justify the un-democratic structure that enables minority rule.

Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight Presidential elections.

If the Senate were a national election, Democrats would win by 10 points in most cycles. Same for the House.

[BeckyDem]

8. Yes! Love this post.

[budkin]

13. That's MAGA

It’s brainwashing of the ignorant. The “poorly educated” as Trump puts it.

[Mr. Ected]

9. Ergo, one cannot have a successful democracy AND the Electoral College

One negates the other and vice versa.

Schiff is launching a salvo in favor of killing off the EC. It's about time.

And....an improbable outcome in these contentious times.

[ShazzieB]

14. Hard agree with this.

The Electoral ollege needs to go, as soon as it can be made to do so. It's an obsolete, elitist relic of a world that was drastically different from the one we now inhabit.

I wonder, if Texas ever really does go blue, as people keep predicting, would that change some people's view of the EC? Will some red state voters become less inclined to fight for tge EC's continued survival when they see those 38 electoral votes tumble into the blue basket?

[SouthernDem4ever]

30. That is if the state hasn't already passed laws allowing their legislature to change the outcome

just because they didn't like the results. What a sham.

[FoxNewsSucks]

35. Without voter suppression,

TX and probably some other states would probably already be blue.

[2Gingersnaps]

19. If they are so fond of those Civil War era laws,

They should love the 14th Amendment that says people who commit insurrection or sedition cannot serve in Congress. But the EC was designed so the agricultural south that was 10 to 1 slave, and the slaves did not have the vote, would have parity with the industrial north. The rural parts of the country understands this very well, the Dakotas know they have far more representation than Californians based on population. And they are way OK with minority rule.

[UTUSN]

10. (My) dupe

[UTUSN]

11. Time to get serious about the popular vote. Some states pact to do it.

[calimary]

12. Yes We DID elect Hillary in 2016!

DAMMIT!!!

[ShazzieB]

16. W absofuckinglutely did!

[wnylib]

23. And Gore in 2000.

[jaxexpat]

34. Absolutely!

If ever there was a justification for righteous insurrection, December 2000 and the conspiratorial USSC was it. Pretty much placed another nail in democracy's coffin in the US.

[Crunchy Frog]

15. It doesn't sound like a democracy at all. nt

[gulliver]

18. The Constitution isn't "proof against dedicated internal adversaries"

It's almost impossible I would say to make any system airtight against insiders. People have to have enough of a sense of civic-mindedness and fear of chaos to know when not to subvert the system they're living under. I'm kind of hopeful based on what I see coming out of the Biden admin and Dems. To me it's actually real, sensible, and powerful, despite the temporary internal tensions, fussing, outrage, and media noise.

[AmBlue]

20. So why don't we...

Enact laws to stop all that bullshit? If we are to be a democracy, one voice one vote, of for and by the People, none of that should be legal!!!

[Marius25]

21. Because Republicans, Manchin, and Sinema

are stopping us from passing laws that put a stop to it.

[czarjak]

22. Arcane institutions intended to support white supremacy are what they are?

[sellitman]

25. Sounds like a sick house to me.

Wish I had the answer to our mess.

[Poiuyt]

26. Republicans are quick to point out that James Madison wanted to avoid Tyranny of the Majority

but I don't think he meant that the minority should rule, which is what is happening right now.

Between lobbying and dark money, the Electoral College, gerrymandering to control the House and many state legislatures, and the inherent unbalance of power in the Senate, conservatives control America, despite most Americans being left of center.

[colsohlibgal]

28. It's All Tilted

The Electoral College, the makeup of the Senate where California and NY get 2 Senators as do Idaho, Wyoming, Both Dakotas. It is all rigged to make it an uphill battle for Democrats.

[TomWilm]

29. Though many European countries use similar systems ...

To win by popular vote is in no way more "democratic", than to secure country wide representation and influence by making some areas get more influence than others. It is just another way of doing it...

Countries might favor the one over the other. In Germany specially promoted regional votes just got the Danish minority party elected into the national parliament.

In Denmark there are fixed seats in parliament for the representation of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. These has been crucial for reaching majority for some of our prime ministers. Also the "price" of a seat in parliament changes in the different parts of the rest of Denmark - to secure representation of all.

But yes, the way the Electoral College works is not a good representation anymore, and should be recalculated like the House seats are. But there will not be a majority to remove this system, so this is just wasting time!

[ChazInAz]

32. Now there's an idea.

I've long maintained that Native Americans should have a large caucus of their own in both houses of congress. Denmark's fixed seats is just the sort of model we need.
Thank you for providing that information, it was new to me.

[TomWilm]

36. More about those fixed seats...

You can find info about these rules in the Constitution of Denmark here.

The Constitution says that: "A total of 179 members, two of which in the Faroe Islands and two of which in Greenland, are to be elected for the Folketing."

But a better parallel for the Native Americans is the Sámi Parliament of Norway, the Indigenous traveling people of the Northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. This is quite good described in Wikipedia:

The Sámi Parliament is the representative body for people of Sámi heritage in Norway. It acts as an institution of cultural autonomy for the indigenous Sami people. The Parliament was opened on 9 October 1989. The extent of responsibility that was assigned and transferred from the Norwegian government at the time of establishment was modest. However, more responsibilities have been added.

The establishing of this local parliament came after a many year long struggle, which I (in a very small way) took part in. A plan of constructing a hydroelectric power plant would inundate the Sámi village of Máze. This plan was met by strong opposition from the Sámi, and resulted in the Alta blocade. After this the Samic people got this parliamentary body.

[ChazInAz]

37. Good precedents for my idea, then.

[Farmer-Rick]

31. So, why doesn't the Democratic Party use it to their advantage too?

Why is it that only GOPers can manipulate the system to ensure the outcome?

Now if Schiff would take that thought to its logical conclusion. We don't have a democracy. We have an oligarchy with the filthy rich controlling the outcome because we allowed the filthy rich TOO much wealth.

That's why the Democratic Party can't use the rigged system too. The Democrats, for the most part, are trying to play democracy in an oligarchical government. They have to play stealth dienpowerment of the filthy rich. Look at how hard it was just to help the majority a little in a deadly pandemic. And they have to do stealth disenpowerment while still hitting up the filthy rich for money (thanks Supremes). All because of out of control, unregulated capitalism.

Unless we stop capitalism, democracy won't come back.

[packman]

38. No shit Adam - hell, everyone knew this - when did you wake up?

Every 4 yrs. everyone seems to bitch about the outdated electoral college which has its roots in black suppression and it keeps getting kicked down the road.

DO SOMETHING

[triron]

39. Spot on. The EC will be our (American experiment) undoing.