« Bush Twin Outsourced to Latin America | Main | Independence »

June 29, 2006

Being Careful of What You Wish For

Republicans were gleeful when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled late yesterday that states could redistrict their congressional delegations at any point. The GOP shortsightedly saw it as a simple vindication of their mid-decade efforts in Texas to grant more seats friendly to their party. Tom Delay went so far as to try to spin it as a washing of the charges recently brought against him (it was not).

Our nation is now face with a situation that wasn't on anyone's political radar just a month ago. State legislatures are now free to draw new boundaries for congressional seats at whim. As long as a particular political party controls both legislative chambers and the governorship, it is possible for that party to remake maps fairly easily.

The upside for Democrats is that more legislatures and governorships will trend Democratic this cycle, as they did the last cycle (New York may be the next to fall in the Dems favor). Democrats have the opportunity to shift the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives to their party in the next few years simply through redistricting alone. Of course, the public could quickly sour on any partisan redistricting efforts and punish the parties who practiced such measures.

Our nation needs some quiet time to reflect on the greater ramifications for our Democracy. Do we really want more congressional seats to be guaranteed for life, which such plans will surely produce. Is it more democratic to allow state legislatures to actively redistrict, or does it blunt democracy? Unfortunately, in our current politically-charged national environment (ironically helped supplied by Tom Delay's redistricting plan upheld yesterday by the Supreme Court), I fear that the option to reflect on such larger issues will be quickly lost.

Posted by John at June 29, 2006 03:26 PM