I know what you’re thinking.“Wouldn’t that be nice--except it takes a constitutional amendment and Darlin’, that ain’t gonna’ happen!”

That’s what I thought too--until I read a brilliantly-reasoned proposal to the contrary:

We can have de facto popular election of the President in 2008.

It WON’T take a constitutional amendment.

It WON’T have to be passed by the U. S. Senate or House.

It WON’T have to be ratified by two-thirds of the states.

It is that rarest of issues--a simple matter of fairness that puts Democrats on the side of the angels and Republicans in the doghouse.

What Part of “Fair” Don’t Republicans Understand? Gallup tells us that 66% of Independents favor choosing Presidents by nationwide popular vote. 73% of Democrats feel likewise. Even Republicans--usually unanimously opposed to anything intelligent-- are split on this one.

And why not? Fair is fair. Make the bad guys try to explain why one voter in Wyoming should be able to cancel out four voters in California, or why one voter in the District of Columbia should be able to cancel out four in Texas, or why 43% of American voters, under the Electoral College system, should be able to prevail over 57%.

They can’t. In Reynolds v. Sims, a 1964 Alabama reapportionment case, the Supreme Court held that under the equal protection clause “as nearly as possible one man’s vote must be worth as much as another’s.” The Electoral College, though it’s in the Constitution, is unconstitutional.

(By the Way) How This Reform Works. The Constitution mandates the Electoral College, but it leaves to individual states how their electors are chosen. There’s absolutely nothing to prevent California’s state legislature from deciding “All of California’s electors shall cast their votes for whichever Presidential candidate receives the largest popular vote nationwide.”

(There may be brief delays until it is determined exactly which candidate that is, but that happens under the current system as well.)

Once New York and Massachusetts and a dozen other enlightened large states join California, the die is cast: a majority of electors vote for the candidate who wins the national popular vote. And we have achieved de facto direct election of the President.

Direct Election Can Help Sell a Comprehensive Voting Rights Act. With this simple, irrefutable fairness proposal in play, Democrats can broaden the voting rights issue to include other essential voting reforms absolutely crucial to preserving democracy in this country, packaging them all under the “One Man, One Vote” mandate.

It won’t be Sour Grapes anymore; it’ll be Common Sense