The Redistricting Melee

Donald Trump started the redistricting melee by calling on Texas to undertake an unprecedented mid-census congressional redistricting to create five additional Republican seats. California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom responded in kind by calling a successful referendum to redistrict California to create an additional five Democratic seats and the partisan war was on. It came crashing down for the Democrats in Virginia this week when their Supreme Court ruled their redistricting referendum unconstitutional. That plan would have created four more Democratic seats. Along the way Trump unseated candidates in Indiana's Republican primary that opposed his redistricting plan for the state.

Then of a sudden the U.S. Supreme Court declared parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional paving the way to redistrict a host of Black (Democratic) seats across the South. Tennessee and Louisiana have already acted. Further, by 2028 elections there will be a raft of redistricting across Democratic and Republican states. I don't know who the ultimate winner will be, but I do know the American voter will be the loser. Simply put voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around.

Meantime after being down in the dumps all year, the Republican Party now has some spring in its steps. To me their optimism and the Democrats pessimism is premature. Why? In a wave election, and if there is to be a wave, it will be the Democrats that sweep and instead of helping, redistricting will hurt because it dilutes a party's strength where it was presumably strong.(See: https://shulmaven.blogspot.com/2018/07/gerrymandering-wont-save-republicans-in.html ) Second, I would hope that the electorate gives a big F-You to both parties by voting Republican in California and Democratic in Texas. It maybe too much to hope for, but I fear that both parties are now circling the drain. We need something new.