Day after day, new Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and her fellow Democrats demonstrate how much of their agenda is simply about securing power.

Spanberger signed a bill Monday that added the Commonwealth of Virginia to the National Popular Vote Compact, which is a misguided and downright unconstitutional attempt to get around the Electoral College in presidential elections.

The compact, which has now enlisted 18 states and the District of Columbia, would make the state’s Electoral College votes be whatever the national popular vote is, potentially nullifying democracy in the name of democracy.

I’d like to note that this move is awful for several reasons, the first one being that the National Popular Vote idea is a toxic one that undermines America’s federal, constitutional system.

The Electoral College really is the best method for a country as large and diverse as the U.S. to choose presidents. It ensures that the only truly “national” election for an office as important as the presidency relies on a consensus of states and the varied polities represented by the states.

The Electoral College ensures that the interests of the American people aren’t just represented by states like California and Texas, but by Wyoming and Delaware too.

I chose that mix of modern red and blue states for a reason.

The Left has pushed particularly hard for the Electoral College’s abolition in recent years because they believe switching to a popular vote favors them.

That sort of held until 2024 when President Donald Trump won the election and the popular vote too.

There is a perception that big states are blue and small states are red, but that’s not true.

The electoral map is mixed and constantly evolving. The idea that giving small states a slight comparative advantage favors Republicans isn’t true when you consider tiny, deep blue states like Rhode Island.

The electoral map is, as always, in flux.

Changing the system that has been remarkably effective since the beginning to serve the temporary interests of one party is foolish and shortsighted. Adding more “democracy” to our presidential elections is hardly a guarantee that we will have better presidents.

Fortunately, the Founders created a system not reliant on pure democracy. They made one that prevents large-scale constitutional changes without a massive amount of buy-in from the states the Left seemingly wants to bypass.

But more democracy for the sake of democracy is not really what this is about. This is about the fortunes of the Democratic Party and the Left in particular right now.

They look at America and see an electoral map that looks increasingly stacked against them.

Blue state uninhabitability for middle-class Americans means that the states with Democratic majorities are bleeding electoral votes, and the situation will soon be much worse.

As David Marcus, a Fox News columnist, sagely put on X, the following information is almost certainly why Virginia Democrats are “going for broke” with power grabs.

Big, blue states are getting less “big.” Red states are reaping the benefits. And that means that without a switch to something like a national popular vote their electoral road to the White House looks increasingly steep.

This National Popular Vote move is very on brand for Spanberger and the new Democrat majority in Virginia. They’ve spent much of their early days in power passing as many far-Left laws as possible, most notably focusing on changes to ensure that their current majority becomes permanent.

That’s why, despite Spanberger saying years ago that gerrymandering is “detrimental to our democracy,” she’s signed off on one of the most extremely partisan redistricting plans in the country.

Democrats did this while essentially bypassing a Virginia constitutional amendment that established a bipartisan redistricting commission.

Spanberger’s popularity has tanked, but it seems the reasoning is that popularity doesn’t matter so much if the game can be jerry-rigged to keep themselves in power. It’s not the worst bet, though these schemes often have a way of backfiring.

The moves accrue little benefit to effective governance in Virginia, of course. But they do deliver maximum benefits to Democrat politicians who undoubtedly hope that they can make the commonwealth a one-party state and yet another lab of left-wing social engineering à la California.

That Virginia Democrats signed off on the National Popular Vote Compact stems from similar reasoning.

They need to solidify wins now. The “affordability” message was just election-time sloganeering. The party is just as radical as ever. And now that it’s pulled off a win, the party won’t let the lie go to waste.

Both the ruthless redistricting plan and the National Popular Vote sign off demonstrate that the Democrats aren’t going to change their policies to win over voters. Instead, they intend to change the system so they won’t have to.

AUTHOR

Jarrett Stepman

Jarrett Stepman is a columnist for The Daily Signal. He is also the author of “The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America’s Past.” Send an email to Jarrett. Jarrett on X: @JarrettStepman.

RELATED POSTS:

DOJ’s Harmeet Dhillon Details Just How Much of a ‘Mess’ Voter Rolls Are

Virginia’s New ‘Centrist’ Governor Goes Full California on Day One

Spanberger Polls Below Majority Support as Virginia Holds Redistricting Vote 

Spanberger Is ‘Taking Credit’ for Youngkin’s Economic Deals

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

---

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now