EDITORIAL: Many potential casualties in the left’s pursuit of power

A remarkable movement is enveloping the Democratic Party that seeks nothing less than to dismantle or overhaul longstanding U.S. political institutions and to erode the country’s founding ideals. Are independent and moderate voters paying attention?

Lest we be charged with exaggeration, consider just a handful of the astonishing proposals gaining traction with the collectivists who now drive the Democratic agenda.

■ On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that activists are pressuring Democratic presidential candidates to embrace a scheme to pack the Supreme Court. “The proposals,” the paper noted, “are born out of Democratic frustration with the court’s ideological bend to the right.” While the Constitution is silent on the number of justices, this maneuver would be less a legitimate reform than a shameless bid to hijack a branch of government to achieve ideological ends.

■ It has become fashionable in progressive circles to advocate for the abolition of the U.S. Senate. Last year, former Rep. John Dingell, the late Michigan Democrat who retired in 2015 after 60 years in the House, called the constitutional structure of the upper chamber “dangerous” and “just plain crazy.” The ostensible objection is that the Senate is not “democratic” because it provides each state with two representatives regardless of population. Never mind that the founders wisely created a democratic republic rather than a pure democracy. In reality, this attack on one of the country’s most significant institutions is grounded in ideological disappointment and indignation.

■ Eliminating the Electoral College has become a rallying cry for most of the Democratic presidential candidates. On the surface, the objection is again articulated in terms of promoting “fairness” and “democracy.” In fact, however, the body is consistent with the Founders’ prescient concerns about shielding the minority from the passions of the majority. Progressive attacks on the Electoral College stem primarily from anger that it didn’t work to their advantage in 2000 and 2016.

■ Senate Democrats have embraced a resolution urging the repeal of certain First Amendment rights under the guise of campaign finance reform. The measure seeks to undermine the Citizens United decision in which the Supreme Court recognized that Americans have a right to finance the promotion of political viewpoints. It’s worth remembering that during oral arguments in Citizens United, a government lawyer told the justices that the law Democrats now seek to restore would allow the feds to ban politically themed books, pamphlets or other materials.

The Supreme Court, Electoral College, U.S. Senate and the First Amendment — all potential casualties in the authoritarian left’s relentless pursuit of power. Independent voters and moderate Democrats should pay close heed.