Redistricting Power Politics
On Deadly Ground: Why Virginia Democrats Just Rewrote the Map Sun Tzu said: “When on surrounded ground, plot. When on deadly ground, fight.” We are on politically deadly ground in America. The old norms of “fair” redistricting and waiting for the decennial census have been trashed. Both parties understand the new reality: whoever controls the legislature, the governorship, and (when needed) the constitutional amendment process gets to draw the lines that determine who holds power in Congress. Virginia Democrats just demonstrated they grasp this better than many Republicans. The Birth of the Gerrymander The term “gerrymander” was born in 1812 in…