Democrats should quit whining about the Senate and start trying to win it back

Time to get a grip!

The Capitol Building.

In a political season rife with internet-fueled indignation, the prize for the most absurd cry of injustice should go to every ostensibly informed person who has denounced the Senate for being undemocratic because Republicans will gain seats in the upper chamber of Congress despite Democrats winning roughly 12.5 million more votes.

The claim is absurd because Senate elections take place within entire states (not within arbitrarily drawn districts within states, as is common with the House of Representatives), and at that level they are perfectly democratic. The candidate who wins a majority (or plurality) of the votes wins the contest.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.