When the Founding Fathers were laying out the framework of our country, they were very concerned of what James Madison called, “the tyranny of the majority” – the idea that the voice of the minority could be completely snuffed out by the voice of the many. The Founding Fathers’ intent was to force candidates to travel to all the United States to appeal to voters, not just a few, densely populated cities.
In 2016, Clinton won the popular vote by almost 2.9 million votes—roughly the population of Iowa. While Pres. Trump won 84 percent of counties across the country – 2,626 counties compared to Hillary Clinton’s 487. Which is a better, more true representation of the collective country?
For hundreds of years, protections to prevent the tyranny of the majority have been preserved in our Constitution through the Electoral College process. Attempts to undermine the Electoral College are direct attempts to dismantle rural America.
The Electoral College has come under assault by Democrats running for president this year. No Democratic candidates will defend the Electoral College and in fact, Pete Buttigieg, who can thank Iowa Democrats for launching him to the national stage, still vows to silence their voices if elected president. This push to trash the Constitution highlights the fact that Buttigieg only wants the votes in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and other coastal liberal mecca cities to count.
With the Electoral College in place, a candidate who wants to win the presidency must talk to more than just the 8.6 million people in New York City or the 4 million people in L.A. Instead, this person has to bring together hog farmers in Iowa, small business owners in Sioux Falls, auto mechanics in Kirksville, plant workers in Muncie, health professionals in Rochester, and people in every precious corner of our whole, great country. Because what we are really talking about isn’t just blue versus red shades on a map. We’re talking about real people. And the president should make their case to ALL Americans, not just the wingtip wearing bankers of Wall Street or the movie stars in Hollywood.
This position is just the newest fad in the liberal Democratic party’s attempts to destroy middle America. Insane, bankrupting policy ideas like the Green New Deal, the push to increase the power of government agencies, backbreaking taxes that prohibit Mainstreet businesses from keeping their doors open will damage America’s heartland, for sure. But make no mistake, the plan to eliminate the Electoral College will be the death knell to rural America. A Democratic party already out of touch with flyover country has just unleashed their plan to destroy small town, rural America, once and for all. We will not go quietly and the rest of the country should join with us.
Jeff Kaufman is the current Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. He was elected to that role in 2014. He served 8 years as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, retiring in 2013.
