While Democrats have been hyperventilating about Thomas Hiltachk’s proposed June ballot referendum, the Presidential Election Reform Act, even going so far as to attempt to place a counter-initiative on the ballot written by Chris Lehane, hardly anyone seems to have noticed that not all Republicans are supportive of such a wholesale change in our nation’s electoral system.

It seems like a central assumption for California Democrats has been that all Republicans, of course, would get behind a simple change that would increase their chances for holding onto the presidency in 2008. But apparently, some Republicans are capable of complex thought, even federalist ideology. Who knew.

Such an example would be Thomas Del Beccaro, the Vice Chair of the California Republican Party and the Chairman of the Contra Costa Republican Central Committee. Del Beccaro has recently written an interesting criticism of the current move to change California’s electoral system:

For those interested in immediate gratification, that would mean that California’s 55 electoral votes would not go in unison to Hillary in 2008 — but as many as 22 would go to the Republican nominee — thereby making it much easier for a Republican to win the Presidency.

However, before you blush with expediency, it may be worthy to pause.

Recall that the Electoral College is a rather unique American construct. 

Our Founders were loathe to accept the wiles of direct democracy so they established our Republic. Amongst the compromises necessary to craft our Constitution were concessions to smaller states.  Those concessions included two houses of Congress which featured a Senate giving each state, small and large, the same number of votes.  That was designed to be a moderating force.

It also included the use of Electors to vote for our Presidents and Vice Presidents.  The Electoral College, as it came to be known, was a bulwark against the prospect of large majorities in large states electing Presidents to the exclusion of the rest of We The People.

As a practical matter today, the Electoral College prevents the Democrats from winning the Presidency by the popular vote of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, etc. – all to the exclusion of the red, fly-over states.

Snazzy illustration on the flip…

Del Beccaro then points to this map as an example of the vicissitudes that could face Republicans if such a plan were to gain nationwide traction:

[K]eep in mind that: the Democrats want to scrap the Electoral College altogether.  That is their determined goal because they really would need to do no more than to campaign in but a few blue places which, as this map displays, include the largest of cities.

Now, I have to admit that I’m not fully up to speed on all the issues swirling around the Hiltachk proposition and Lehane counter-proposition, but it seems to me that if there are sizeable pockets of Republican opposition to Hiltachk’s “Presidential Election Reform Act” proposal which can be exploited, along with a more general Democratic opposition, then perhaps that path might be significantly easier than the counter-proposition alternative.  Or is Del Beccaro a lone voice in the wilderness?