A Couple of Observations about Redistricting Wars
There is a lot to say about all this redistricting/gerrymandering talk. Let me note three so that they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
First, the brazenness of this power play is noteworthy. The President of the United States publicly asked for these new maps without even pretending like there was some reason to do it apart from the fact that it would give his party more seats in the next election. It should be obvious, but presidents shouldn’t ask for such things. And, moreover, it should be alarming for a president to be blatantly asking for a state legislature to knowingly, obviously, and calculatedly take away representation from some of the state’s voters.
Second, this is a pure power play of a unique nature, as per political scientist Bethany Albertson.
She is correct. This is the same party that was in power when the current set of maps was drawn, and has now decided to tweak them only a few years later in the hopes of maximizing their power. Taken to its logical conclusion, parties that control state government could constantly tweak maps pretty much every two years to make sure their party maximizes seats in the House. This is not democratic competition. Taken to its logical conclusion could almost entirely eliminate democratic competition in the US for House elections, and even for state legislative elections.
Third, I know a lot of Republicans are taking to Twitter and elsewhere to point out other states that have gerrymanders and/or weird-looking districts (which, BTW, are not necessarily the same thing, i.e., not all weird-looking districts prove a gerrymander). And yes, as I have noted for years (decades?), there are deeply problematic issues with single-seat districts, especially in the US. But engaging in whataboutism does not excuse points two and three above.
I would note the effect of technology. I understand very sophisticated software is available to support gerrymandering. This allows districts to be drawn more precisely, using more data, and finer grained data, than racial neighborhoods, which also makes it easier to pretend it’s not about race. This makes gerrymandering both more effective, and more destructive of democratic representation, than anything Elbridge Gerry could have dreamed of.
Worth noting that while Democrats vacated in order to fight for Democracy, Republicans vacated DC in order to protect the President from the Epstein Files (and potential charges of pedophilia?). Certainly different motivations.
@gVOR10:
And it was the Republicans who took greatest advantage of it, with the REDMAP project started in 2010.
Just showing he doesn’t believe he’s the President of all Americans, just the ones who support him.
This is war. Every blue state that can, should gerrymander as many Republiqans off the map as possible.
So, Cornyn is asking the FBI get involved in arresting the Texas Democrats, and Abott is filing petitions in court to remove at least one representative, Gene Wu, from office. Why just him, no idea.
And that’s what I meant when I said this is war.
This is a civil matter. The FBI should not get involved in any capacity. And it’s a legal maneuver to stall legislation, so the Democrats who left the states are doing their jobs in the only way they have left, not shirking their duties to their constituents and the state.
@Kathy:
The leader of every Federal agency has made it pretty clear that their loyalty is to not the country or the constitution, but just to Trump.