The Democrats decision to pander to the coastal elites and ignore Middle America continues to grow, with renewed attention now on abolishing the Electoral College.

Let’s be honest about this proposal which is being pushed by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, MSNBC host Chris Hayes and the liberal social media echo chamber, among others. This is just a power grab by Democrats who want to consolidate power in the hands of the chosen few, as long as they agree with them.

The Electoral College serves a vital role in our democracy as a way to ensure that all 50 states have a voice in who our president is going to be. By having the president elected by electoral votes we can ensure that the voices, issues and votes of small states – including across Middle America – are counted.

Without the Electoral College, presidential campaigns would only focus on large population centers, in particular New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco and the larger states. This would skew the issues that candidates would focus on to a very narrow set from those areas. The issues impacting small states and rural communities would be ignored. Our Founding Fathers worked to ensure protections for our small states, this includes the Electoral College and the principle of equal voices for all states in the Senate.

One only needs to look at the current Democratic race for president to see how rural issues and Middle America can be ignored. During the debates, the Democratic candidates have simply pandered to their liberal and coastal bases. The Democratic presidential candidates simply believe that an occasional mention of the word rural and a visit to the Iowa State Fair count as a rural agenda.

That’s not how it works!

Now if the Democrats get their way and abolish the Electoral College, then any reason for candidates to even put forth a rural agenda won’t exist. Issues impacting our small states, including agriculture, rural broadband, health care, water, transportation, flood control and the brain drain would be ignored.

Let’s also be clear, the only reason the Democrats are even pushing this idea is because they are still sour at the 2016 elections results. Because they have not been able to accept the results of the 2016 election, they now want to upend everything in an effort to win at all costs. Notice the didn’t have a complaint about the Electoral College in 2008 and 2012.

This is also not surprising since Democratic presidential candidates and their liberal base are calling for wholesale changes that they say will ensure a permanent Democratic majority.

This includes packing the Supreme Court and changing the Senate to harm the rights of small states. It’s clear that the Democratic Party’s entire strategy now is not to accept the will of the people, but rather exclude the people they don’t like The Electoral College is an important tool for protecting the voices of rural America and small states. Make no mistake, any attempt to abolish this constitutional institution is just a power play by Democrats and an attempt to silence large swaths of our country.

Wink Hartman is the CEO of the Hartman Group of Companies and was the 2018 Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.

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