Every ten years, America has a census. That census is followed by redistricting congressional and state legislative seats. In the fifty years following World War II, the Democrats controlled the state legislatures of a majority of the states. In nearly that entire period, the Democrats also controlled the House of Representatives. Somehow, the media never made much of a point that Democrat control was in part a function of the way that the Democrats in the state legislatures drew the district boundaries. After the 2000 census, the state legislatures were almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. On the seats drawn by those legislatures, the Republicans won the House the majority of the time. In 2010, however, for the first time in the modern era, Republicans controlled a clear majority of the legislatures (53% of the members of the legislatures were from the GOP and 47% were Democrats.) The GOP was already in control of Congress, and since the redistricting following that census, Republican control has stayed in place. Now, however, we constantly hear from the media that GOP control in the House is the result of gerrymandering, or drawing the district lines to favor one party over the other.
Let's put aside the hypocrisy of the media for a moment. We all know that when questionable redistricting favored the Democrats, the media was silent. Now, even properly drawn districts are called gerrymandered. Let's focus instead on the reason why the Democrats don't win the House. The answer is simple; it's called the Voting Rights Act. The VRA requires state legislatures to create what are called minority majority districts. In other words, the VRA mandates that districts be created that lump together minority voters so that they will be able to elect minority representatives to Congress and the legislatures too. Think about that. In 2012, 95% of African Americans voted for president Obama and the Democrats. Blacks made up about 13% of the total vote. When all those black voters get lumped into these minority majority districts, that means that the other 87% of voters are left as the electorate of the remaining districts. Remember, however, that the Republicans got over 55% of the vote from this portion of the electorate. That translates into victory by a great many Republicans in the districts that are not minority-majority. Obviously, the split is not that stark. There are minority voters in most districts, but the vast bulk are crammed into the minority majority districts. That is why the Republicans have such strong and continuing control of the House.
There is no gerrymandering. There is only the effect of the Voting Rights Act. The media could never admit this though. Imagine, something as sacrosanct for the liberal media as the VRA causing the candidates they support to be stuck as a minority in the House. They could never admit that. It would require them to face reality.
Let's put aside the hypocrisy of the media for a moment. We all know that when questionable redistricting favored the Democrats, the media was silent. Now, even properly drawn districts are called gerrymandered. Let's focus instead on the reason why the Democrats don't win the House. The answer is simple; it's called the Voting Rights Act. The VRA requires state legislatures to create what are called minority majority districts. In other words, the VRA mandates that districts be created that lump together minority voters so that they will be able to elect minority representatives to Congress and the legislatures too. Think about that. In 2012, 95% of African Americans voted for president Obama and the Democrats. Blacks made up about 13% of the total vote. When all those black voters get lumped into these minority majority districts, that means that the other 87% of voters are left as the electorate of the remaining districts. Remember, however, that the Republicans got over 55% of the vote from this portion of the electorate. That translates into victory by a great many Republicans in the districts that are not minority-majority. Obviously, the split is not that stark. There are minority voters in most districts, but the vast bulk are crammed into the minority majority districts. That is why the Republicans have such strong and continuing control of the House.
There is no gerrymandering. There is only the effect of the Voting Rights Act. The media could never admit this though. Imagine, something as sacrosanct for the liberal media as the VRA causing the candidates they support to be stuck as a minority in the House. They could never admit that. It would require them to face reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment