dagblog - Comments for "Gerrymandering Heads to Supreme Court; ‘Pivotal Moment’ for Democrats? "

John Kasich unloads on

artappraiser — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 23:25:04 +0000

In reply to Gerrymandering Heads to Supreme Court; ‘Pivotal Moment’ for Democrats?

John Kasich unloads on 'horrific' gerrymandering

By Allan Smith @ Business Insider, April 26

Ohio Gov. John Kasich blasted the "horrific" gerrymandering of Congressional districts during a recent interview with Business Insider, saying it "further polarizes people."

"All this gerrymandering has just carved people up into safe districts, but they're not safe, because they have to fear primaries," the Republican governor told Business Insider Monday while on tour promoting "Two Paths: America Divided or United," his new book.

"If you're a Democrat, it's from the left. If you're a Republican, it's from the right," he continued. "So it further polarizes people. And then when you have the public, which is increasingly sort of knowledgeable about what's happening, compromise [becomes] like evil. So the system is dysfunctional. Gerrymandering is horrific." [....]

All that said, apparently

artappraiser — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 16:19:36 +0000

In reply to Gerrymandering Heads to Supreme Court; ‘Pivotal Moment’ for Democrats?

All that said, apparently gerrymandered districts are no guarantee of anything if you have a wild man at the top, especially in mid-terms where only the passionate vote. It's a brave new world:

interviews with more than a dozen top Republican operatives, donors and officials reveal a growing trepidation about how the initial days of the new political season are unfolding

Very interesting.

artappraiser — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 23:03:54 +0000

In reply to i found this one interesting

Very interesting. Gerrymandering: it's complicated. I am impressed with the writer's skill at "science writing," translating for the challenged like me, going to watch for her byline.

i found this one interesting

Obey — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 22:08:42 +0000

In reply to Gerrymandering Heads to Supreme Court; ‘Pivotal Moment’ for Democrats?

i found this one interesting too

https://www.wired.com/2017/04/gerrymandering-illegal-mathematicians-can-prove

Especially this bit:

Despite this perfect partisan balance, in the round of redistricting after the 2000 census, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature created a congressional district map in which Bush voters outnumbered Gore voters in 68 percent of the districts—a seemingly classic case of gerrymandering.

Yet when Chen and Rodden drew hundreds of random district maps using a nonpartisan computer algorithm, they found that their maps were biased in favor of Republicans too, sometimes as much as the official map. Democratic voters in the early 2000s, they found, were clustering into highly homogeneous neighborhoods in big cities like Miami and spreading out their remaining support in suburbs and small towns that got swallowed up inside Republican-leaning districts. They were packing and cracking themselves.