Redistrict This
By now it’s common knowledge that the Texas Legislature, acting at the behest of Tom DeLay (and probably Karl Rove), is engaged in an unprecedented brand of political hardball aimed at winning a few more safe seats for Republicans. This grotesque abuse of the process, however, only highlights how we could redress many of the problems of our current political system if only there were the will and the principle on both sides to get it done.
In the last two elections, we have seen that the country is split practically down the middle ideologically. The 2000 election produced a president who won by a single, highly-contested electoral vote, and lost the popular vote. The 2002 Republican “landslide” produced a one-vote majority in the Senate, which, if not for the tragic death of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, would still be equally divided. And the Republicans maintain power in the House, also by a historically slim margin, thanks to heavily gerrymandered districts in the southeast and midwest.
Nevertheless, our political debate at the moment is not a quest for the center but a clash of extremes – nowhere moreso than in the House of Representatives. This is largely the result of a devil’s bargain between the two parties in the redistricting process over the last 30 years, aimed at protecting incumbents and creating safe seats at the expense of true representation.
In my district here in Seattle, Congressman Jim McDermott – one of the most liberal members of the House – routinely brings in 75-80% of the vote in barely-contested elections. Meanwhile, a ten-minute drive across the bridge, the burghers of Bellevue overwhelmingly elect Jennifer Dunn, number four in the House Republican leadership, against token opposition. Both Dunn and McDermott are excellent representatives of their constituencies. But by drawing the district lines this way, Washington has produced two extremist ideologues from a geographic area which, seen in total, is, overall, fairly moderate. This pattern of urban/suburban split is seen all across the country. Tom DeLay and Sheila Jackson-Lee represent neighboring districts. So did Newt Gingrich and Cynthia McKinney.
As ideological divisions grow, so do electoral majorities. The incumbency rate of return in Congress has been over 95% for many years. This is hardly a number a democracy should be proud of. Up until a few months ago, the only party affiliation that gave you that kind of job security was the Ba’ath party. Each cycle, there are fewer and fewer contested Congressional seats. Last year, it was less than a dozen out of 435.
Fair, disinterested nationwide redistricting is the only answer to this problem. Done properly, it would have a number of positive effects:
- It would make all Representatives more responsive to their districts, needless to say.
- More contested elections would produce more moderate representatives, better able to work together than the pack of howler monkeys we have in office today. Certainly it’s hard to imagine we could do worse.
- It would provide a graceful, constitutional solution to the campaign finance problem: there simply isn’t enough money in this country to dump millions of dollars into each of 300+ contested congressional elections every two years, so the concentrated effects of campaign finance by a few powerful interests would be diluted.
- It would address voter apathy and low turnout. In 2002, the only things on my ballot that were not foregone conclusions were a few obscure state initiatives. If someone like me is wondering why they bothered to cast a vote, it’s no wonder that most Americans can’t be troubled to turn out on Election Day.
Of course, it will never happen because the constituency for responsible politics in this country is growing smaller by the day, and the vital interests of too many entrenched forces are mortally threatened. Still, if someone were to have the courage to put forward a plan that distributes the pain evenly across both parties and across the entire country, the compelling arguments in favor of reform could be brought to bear.
Perhaps a few more incidents like this ugly situation in Texas will be enough to move the issue higher on the radar and tap into the outrage and alienation that increasing numbers of Americans feel toward their political system. It’s a long shot, but hey, we can dream.
8:03:14 AM 
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