Earlier today, the California Assembly passed the National Popular Vote (AB 459) on a 47-21 vote, and inflicted another tear on the great and frayed founding document of our Republic, the Constitution.

NPV reduces the Electoral College to mere window dressing and substitutes the direct election of the president – an idea the Founding Fathers explicitly rejected — in its stead. it amends the Constitution without bothering to amend the Constitution. To quote veteran conservative writer Quin Hilyer of The American Spectator, it is “an absolute disaster of an idea.”

I expect liberals to ignore the clear intent of the Founding Fathers and weaken the Constitution. But it’s deeply dispiriting when Republicans help them do it. These four GOP Assemblyman voted with the Democratic majority to toss the Electoral College into the garbage can:

• Cameron Smyth

• Bill Berryhill

• Katcho Achadjian

• Jeff Miller

It’s worth noting Achadjian gave Jerry Brown the two GOP votes he needed for the giveaway contract to the state prison guards union.

Assembly Caucus Chairman Brian Nestande, who is the lead co-author of  AB 459, decided to abstain.  Maybe he’s coming to his senses on this.

To those Republicans who voted against AB 459 and NVP, a big “thank you” for standing tall for the Constitution. As for the four GOP legislators above, I’ll be charitable and just confess to being at a loss as to how any Republican in his or her right mind could support this supremely bad idea.

[Note: The original version of this post incorrectly stated that Kevin Jeffries abstained on this bill.  He voted against it. – Flash]

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 19th, 2011 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Blog Posts.