Liberals still smart from the 2000 election, where Al Gore famously won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College in a disputed election.  Shortly thereafter, a college professor proposed an intriguing end-run around the Electoral College: each state would simply pledge its electors to the winner of the popular vote.  The law would take effect only after states with 270 electoral votes passed the law.

Five states have enacted such laws: Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland New Jersey, and Washington.  Now it looks as though Massachusetts will become the sixth.  The bill heads for Deval Patrick's desk, who has indicated that he will sign it.  New York will likely follow suit, and California has sent the bill to the governor's desk twice, only to have Governor Schwarzenegger veto it.  If all these states pass the law, 147 electoral votes will be lined up for the law.

Of course, all these states have something in common:  They are deep blue states that likely feel as if they were disenfranchised by the 2000 outcome.  After these states enact this law, only a handful of truly "blue" states would remain, all of which are small: Vermont, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.  Maybe some of the progressive states in the Upper Midwest would sign onto this as a good government measure, but realistically this law runs into increasingly strong headwinds with every state that passes it.

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