North Carolina is facing a special election for a number of the districts in North Carolina due to a court ruling that the newly drawn districts are heavily gerrymandered. State Senator Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, has a web site for coordinating and recruiting on the blue side of the equation. The site includes this interesting tidbit:
North Carolina State Senate Districts
It’s important to understand that the GOP supermajorities in our state legislature are not the result of the GOP’s popularity, but are rather the result of the extreme gerrymandering they conducted while implementing the new districts in 2011.
In short, they were in charge of drawing the districts, and they drew them to pack as many Republicans into the state legislature as possible. As one of them recently said, “I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats. So I drew this map in a way to help foster what I think is better for the country.”
The justification seems mundane, doesn’t it? I’d like to suggest otherwise. Anyone with a sense of history is well aware that our majority parties have changed positions, compositions, and entire philosophies over time. The GOP of Lincoln would not recognize the GOP of today – and ditto the Democrats. Gerrymandering ignores the possibility that tomorrow it could favor the Democrats.
Either they’re idiots or …
… they believe their party has achieved a certain static purity. Perhaps they do. Remember Goldwater’s warning1. Consider his warning in conjunction with English Royal history. His words are prophetic and frightening. And, from the outside, there seems to be a congruency between his warning and the North Carolina GOP’s behaviors.
In either case, the assertion that gerrymandering is for the good of the country is laughable, as neither party has a lock on wisdom. That’s why compromise is the watch-word of American politics – and why such zealots as the Freedom Caucus and the Tea Party tend to repulse the majority of Americans.
While the immediate challenge for the North Carolina Democrats is obvious, the long term challenge is more important. When – not if, but when, whether it’s now or ten years from now – they win power, it is important to their survival, and the well-being of North Carolina, that they govern fairly. Will they be capable of doing so?
It depends on who runs & wins seats in the North Carolina legislature, doesn’t it? If you’re a citizen of North Carolina and find this post agreeable, perhaps you should investigate Senator Jackson’s proposals at the above link.
1For your convenience:
Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them. – Barry Goldwater
