I read an article today by Nate Silver who explained why the Democrats are unlikely to take back control of the House in 2014. It was the usual political stuff, but what caught my attention was that Silver, a liberal favorite, gave the opinion that it wasn't gerrymandering that would assure Republican control. Silver wrote as if gerrymandering by the Republicans was a fact, but went on to say that more was at work.
I have to say that the article annoyed me. Just think what "gerrymandering" means. Gerrymandering is the situation where one party draws district lines in such a way that the resulting districts are bizarrely shaped and also happen to greatly favor the election of the party drawing the lines. It was first discussed when governor Gerry of Massachusetts drew such a map nearly 200 years ago; the districts resembled salamanders and were called gerrymanders.
What was unique to the latest congressional redistricting is that, for the first time in 80 years, Republicans controlled more of the process than Democrats. Redistricting is a state function, and for the longest time it was the Democrats who controlled the majority of the state legislatures across America. That changed in 2010 when the GOP took control of many more states than the Democrats. Now it is no surprise that the party in control tends to end up with districts that favor its own candidates. Such a result is not gerrymandering; that requires forcing the districts into contortions for partisan reasons. Indeed, the Republican slant to the congressional districts is actually less pronounced than the Democrat slant which has been in place for three quarters of a century before that. During those years, however, the media never described the districts as gerrymandered; that started on once the GOP was drawing the districts.
Even worse, the main reason why the current district structure favor the Republicans even though the country is so evenly divided, is because of something that the Democrats insist upon, namely the creation of so called minority districts. Simply put, the Democrats have required that districts be created where minority groups are in the majority. Thus, we have districts which are 90% African American or 80% Hispanic. If the Democrats get 95% of the black vote but just half of the total vote, then the Democrat vote for Congress is concentrated in the minority districts. That means there are more Republicans in the remaining districts. It does not mean, however, that those districts have been gerrymandered.
I know that Democrats are well known for not taking responsibility for what mistakes they have made, but this is one from which they cannot escape. There is no gerrymandering. There is only the Democrats who are reaping what they sowed.
I have to say that the article annoyed me. Just think what "gerrymandering" means. Gerrymandering is the situation where one party draws district lines in such a way that the resulting districts are bizarrely shaped and also happen to greatly favor the election of the party drawing the lines. It was first discussed when governor Gerry of Massachusetts drew such a map nearly 200 years ago; the districts resembled salamanders and were called gerrymanders.
What was unique to the latest congressional redistricting is that, for the first time in 80 years, Republicans controlled more of the process than Democrats. Redistricting is a state function, and for the longest time it was the Democrats who controlled the majority of the state legislatures across America. That changed in 2010 when the GOP took control of many more states than the Democrats. Now it is no surprise that the party in control tends to end up with districts that favor its own candidates. Such a result is not gerrymandering; that requires forcing the districts into contortions for partisan reasons. Indeed, the Republican slant to the congressional districts is actually less pronounced than the Democrat slant which has been in place for three quarters of a century before that. During those years, however, the media never described the districts as gerrymandered; that started on once the GOP was drawing the districts.
Even worse, the main reason why the current district structure favor the Republicans even though the country is so evenly divided, is because of something that the Democrats insist upon, namely the creation of so called minority districts. Simply put, the Democrats have required that districts be created where minority groups are in the majority. Thus, we have districts which are 90% African American or 80% Hispanic. If the Democrats get 95% of the black vote but just half of the total vote, then the Democrat vote for Congress is concentrated in the minority districts. That means there are more Republicans in the remaining districts. It does not mean, however, that those districts have been gerrymandered.
I know that Democrats are well known for not taking responsibility for what mistakes they have made, but this is one from which they cannot escape. There is no gerrymandering. There is only the Democrats who are reaping what they sowed.
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