Beto O’Rourke: The Electoral College Is Basically Just Like Slavery
Former Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke is feeling the crush of other candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidiential nomination, and the once self-described moderate has moved far leftward in recent days, including on the issue of upending the American electoral process by eliminating the Electoral College.
The idea — which would take some effort to pass — is, of couse, a reaction to Hillary Clinton’s dramatic Electoral College loss in 2016, which came despite Clinton winning the popular vote. Since then, the complaint has been that the Electoral College over-represents inconsequential (read as “Republican”) states, while larger (and, coincidentally more Democratic) states are under-represented.
Most Democrats have used the line that eliminating the Electoral College would move Americans closer to a direct Democracy — a “one person, one vote” standard — but O’Rourke took the measure a step further, comparing the system to “slavery,” according to The Washington Free Beacon.
“This is one of those bad compromises we made at day one in this country,”O’Rourke told the audience. “There are many others we can think of and they are all connected, including the value of some people based on the color of their skin. There is a legacy and a series of consequences that have persisted and remain with us to this day.”