“Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is that you will destroy the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.”
– Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Address (1860)
When Abraham Lincoln issued this prophetic warning, he was talking about the secessionist threats of southern Democrats who would soon tear the nation apart and spark a bloody civil war. But his words are equally haunting today as Democrats are once again demanding that the rule of law take a back seat to their partisan ambitions. This “rule or ruin” radicalism has been on full display over the past several days in Virginia.
On May 8, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Democrats had violated the State Constitution in the process of putting a redistricting referendum before voters that narrowly passed on April 21. What has transpired since then must be regarded as one of the most shocking and outrageous assaults on judicial independence and the separation of powers in American history.
The Virginia referendum, which was on an amendment to the Virginia Constitution, would have allowed Democrats to abolish the nonpartisan redistricting commission which voters had approved in 2020 and implement new U.S. House maps for the 2026 midterms. Democrats’ new map would have almost certainly returned a 10-1 Democrat advantage, whereas the current map is 6-5 Democrat.
But the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Democrats in the state legislature had not followed the Virginia Constitution in passing the amendment. Under Virginia law, proposed amendments must pass the legislature, then there must be a general election, and then the amendment must pass the legislature again before it goes to voters.
When Virginia Democrats passed the amendment for the first time last October, early voting for the November election had already begun. More than one million people had already cast ballots. As the Republican challengers – led by Virginia Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle – successfully argued, the point of that provision is so that voters know that when they vote for members of the Virginia General Assembly, their vote carries implications for which constitutional amendments may or may not pass.
“Early Virginia voters unknowingly forfeited their constitutionally protected opportunity to vote for or against delegates who favor or disfavor amending the Constitution by not anticipating a legislative vote on a constitutional amendment four days before the last day of voting,” the justices wrote.
The timing of the amendment’s passage through the legislature was only one of many possible constitutional violations which Republicans could have prevailed on. Most egregiously, Democrats also inserted shockingly dishonest language in the referendum language itself, claiming that its purpose was to “restore fairness” – a clear attempt to deceive voters.
The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision should have been the end of the matter – and it initially seemed like it was. Democrat Speaker of the Virginia House Don Scott issued a statement on behalf of his party reading, “we respect the decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia.” State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell and Governor Abigail Spanberger seemed equally resigned.
But then came the flood of outrage from national Democrats and the progressive establishment. Just hours after the ruling was handed down, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated that he was “exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision.” Jeffries made no argument that the ruling itself was flawed.
Those “options” have been as desperate as they are dangerous. On Sunday, The New York Times reported that Jeffries and Virginia House Democrats had discussed Democrats in Richmond lowering the mandatory retirement age for State Supreme Court justices to 54. This would allow Democrats to pack the court with enough liberal activist justices who would overturn the decision and restore the 10-1 map.
Then, on Monday, Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court asking the justices to stay the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision. Legal experts say the appeal has virtually no merit and should be unanimously rejected, but it nonetheless represents a stunning reversal over the course of just a few hours. After Scott and Surovell claimed to “respect” the State Supreme Court decision, they are now named as the petitioners in the filing asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn that decision. Clearly, they are taking their marching orders from D.C. power brokers.
But perhaps the most revealing comment came from outside Virginia, specifically from Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, widely rumored to be considering a presidential bid in 2028. “3 million voters in Virginia made it clear what they wanted,” Van Hollen posted on X along with a photo of the 10-1 map. “We better use every tool we have to fight this.”
It’s worth pausing to consider what Van Hollen is implying. He makes no argument that Virginia Democrats did not violate the Virginia Constitution. He says that purely by virtue of the amendment passing with 51 percent of the vote, it should remain in effect, even if lawmakers did not follow the rules to put it before voters in the first place.
By this logic, any state legislature anywhere could put any law or amendment before voters and claim that it should remain in effect as long as a majority of voters support it. Following the law either matters or it does not. A judge’s job is to enforce the law as written, and that is precisely what the Virginia Supreme Court did in this case. If the U.S. Supreme Court does as Van Hollen wants, it would throw open the door to anarchy and chaos.
As much as Democrats may not like it, with live in a republican with separation of powers, not a pure majoritarian democracy.
Americans should understand that Virginia is a flashing red warning sign for the “rule or ruin” radicalism that Democrats want to take nationwide. Every time the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling that Democrats don’t like, they threaten to pack that court as well – and they will do it as soon as they have the votes in the Senate. Democrats are also angling to add Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico as states at the earliest opportunity to pack the Senate with four more Democrat seats, outlaw Voter ID and basic election integrity provisions, and pass a host of other legislation taking square aim at the American way of life.
While Democrats claim to be the party of “democracy” and “protecting institutions,” their knee-jerk reaction every time they don’t get what they want is to gut any institution that prevents them from consolidating power. As Abraham Lincoln reminds us, handing such Jacobins the keys to power is the path to destruction.
*Editor’s note: This piece is indebted to the late Tony Dolan for his ingenious mapping of Abraham Lincoln’s “rule or ruin” theme onto modern American politics, an idea which he shared with this author several years ago.
Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
