Is Gerrymandering Really The Problem?....

[global1]

Or is the problem all the voter ID laws the Repugs are supporting. Gerrymandering (GM) is an excuse for CNN to blame Dems. GM still allows people their vote. The shenanigans the Repugs are pulling is too deny people their right to vote. CNN is focusing on the wrong issue here and I believe they are doing it on purpose to take the heat off the Repugs. They even singled out Illinois Obama's home state to further embarrass the Dems.

[bullimiami]

1. gerrymandering is a seperate problem.

especially now when you can do computer analysis.

the districts should all be drawn up by impartial panels.

[HopeHoops]

4. Or at least in a logical way - like by county (or group of small counties).

The grouping of counties would only make sense if it was to balance the average population in each district and was contiguous, at least on the state level. At the federal level some states would have no other option.

[HereSince1628]

7. I agree, but politicians from either major party probably wouldn't

they sort of like the idea of carving things into districts that increase their probability of winning.

[doc03]

9. Here in Ohio the Rethugs moved our (D) State Senator's home

county into another district so he would have to move to run for re-election here, he decided not to run this time. They packed our district with a bunch of red counties so I suppose we will get a Rethug now. Another John Kasich trick. They eliminated Dennis Kucinich's seat.

[HopeHoops]

2. Piccola's district in PA is a PERFECT example of why it is a problem.

His district used to be essentially all of Dauphin County, including Harrisburg. The new map removes Harrisburg (heavy blue area) and puts it in a different heavily blue district. Meanwhile, they scooped out portions of three other counties that are primarily sparsely populated and red and created what is being called "the horseshoe district" because of its shape. (Historical note: Gerrymandering was named after a district shaped like a salamander).

That makes the seat totally safe for Piccola and really has no impact on the blue district other than to lump Harrisburg into a seat that they don't see as winnable now. At first it seemed like they did this to protect Piccola because he's had some close races in recent elections. Since the time when Corbett approved it, Piccola has announced that he's not going to run again so it will be an open seat. He claims to have had "nothing to do with it", but I'm calling "bullshit".

And what's really amazing about it is that most of the noise is coming from the small population in the three other counties because they feel like their votes are marginalized. Their interests and needs are significantly different from the heavily populated parts of that district. I expected the Harrisburg residents to have the loudest voices on the matter.

So yes, it is a problem and a problem all on its own.

[Atman]

3. Gerrymander is a real problem. Combined with GOP vote suppression efforts, it's worse.

Gerrmandering skews results by assuring a "district" is made up of mostly -- often entirely -- one type of voter. These districts are usually ridiculous, they run down one side of a street, threw an alleyway, then open up into a politically safe neighborhood. Dems do it, too, but nowhere near to the extent the GOP has relied on it. So, you combine gerrymandered districts with suppression efforts that effectly keep Dem voters from voting, or, as the poster above stated, combines multiple blue districts into one, then the benefit to the GOP candidate is multiplied. A gerrymandered Dem district doesn't do much good if the GOP stops the Dems from voting, while limiting the scope of their representation

[Throd]

5. It is certainly ONE of the problems.

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. The problem with gerrymandering is that it creates too many districts which are safe for

one party or the other. So you have a lot of Representatives who tend to represent the extremes of the political spectrum and not enough from the middle.

[Yupster]

11. True

For most congresscritters, their biggest risk comes from the fringe of their own party primarying them rather than the other party beating them. Causes you to protect your extreme flank rather thn the middle.

[redqueen]

8. How are they blaming dems with it? The most outrageous recent example

(or so I thought) was in Texas.

I guess when republicans do it it's just 'redistricting' and it's, as always, OKIYAR. :grr:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. Oddly, CNN totally ignored what's taking place in Texas in their coverage

I believe this is the story the OP is referring to.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/politics/gerrymandering/?hpt=hp_c2

[liberal N proud]

10. It is a huge part of the problem

Districts are set by state representatives to favor the party in power and used to squeeze out key Representatives.

This problem can change entire make up of a state and effect elections on both the state and national level.

[randome]

12. It shouldn't make a difference if the Democrats had their act together.

The gerrymandering, the voter ID laws, all of this. Elections should not even be close enough to be decided by these 'minor' kind of suppression efforts.

The Democratic party is not doing an effective job of getting their message across.

Republicans are evil but Democrats are lazy.

[FarCenter]

14. Redistricting is mainly an incumbent protection racket

Party D and Party R agree on establishing boundaries that make most of the districts "safe" for the D and R incumbents. Then they agree on a small number of districts that are "competitive". Finally, they screw the few politicians that have not fallen in line with party discipline.

This leads to a system where the legislature is run by the Ds or the Rs from the safe districts, more powerfully for the party in majority, but also with respect to the leadership of the party that is in minority. That is, the legislature is always run by very senior legislators from the safe seats, modulo a certain amount of infighting.

Minority voters in the safe seats feel that their votes don't count, since their candidate never wins.

Voters in the competitive seats feel that their votes count, but they really don't, since their legislators never have enough seniority to matter.

Democracy in America is not a function of voting and elections.

Democracy in America is exercised through the process of nominating candidates within the party structures. This is mostly controlled by the party nomenclatura.