Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Gerrymandering

Omaha is a blue dot in a sea of (Husker) red. And Nebraska is one of (I think) only two states that can split their electoral vote. When Obama was elected, we went 2 to 1, with Omaha being that one blue vote.

Now the Republican state senators are proposing a change to District 2 (Omaha.) They intend to enlarge the district by cutting it in half, and add the Air Force base and the next county over, where many of the base employees live. This is expected to increase the Republican presence in District 2 and reassign the district’s voters of color.

And thereby return Nebraska to its purified red status, silencing the liberals and minorities.
(Expletive deleted)

Oh dear god. Don't get me started.
Athens, Ga is a bright blue spot in a sea (NE Ga) of red also. We vote 70% democratic and about 5% other (Bernie Sanders, Ralph Nader, Elizabeth Warren, etc.)
We're so chopped up it's downright immoral. We are by far the largest town in NE Ga (regional hosipitals, large state chartered university) but are tangled up with the very red counties around us. Some of the craziest of crazies represent us.
(ok I guess I won't do an expletive either....s***)

Doncha just love these census years?

I get very upset watching the gerrymandering redistricting process. There are many reasonable methods for doing redistricting in a representative manner. Partisans have no interest in this, and the Supreme Cork Court has promoted their partisanship (at least when Republicans are doing it). In Iowa, they passed a Constitutional amendment to prevent it, but the partisans are ignoring that, because the Republicans have a majority on the "independent" redistricting board 5-2. Not content with a skewed legislature, the "new" map would increase their "safe" control from 60% to 66%. There is a better way: Dave's Redistricting

Republcans have to do that to Omaha - else, they'd never get those electoral votes. It's not as if the Republican platform or Republican ideas are anything for a decent rational person to vote for...

There are barely enough Democrats/liberals in this state to mess with. Years ago I went to a Joan Baez concert and realized if someone had blown up the theater that night they’d have eliminated the entire left wing of Nebraska politics.

Thing is that sort of thing it’s globally universal. Once one heads out to the rural areas of anywhere they are usually dominated by generations people who have been there for……generations. Imagine that!

And the people who inhabit those areas are usually very similar. Of ethnicity, background and their work and of reasons for being. I know them too. They are in-laws of mine from Idaho. And also farmer relatives of mine from Saskatchewan. They only know their own little world and are reluctant to embrace anything outside of it. I cannot say I “blame” them for anything… it’s just the world that they know and the world that they have always and only known.

What do you make of Ben Sasse Mellow? He is obviously very conservative but he seems to be attempting to walk a very fine line that skates slightly outside of the borders of the normal Nebraska conservative venue. Cornbelt wise that is.

Am I being delusional?

Let’s put it this way: every once in a while I forget that Ben Sasse is a Republican from Nebraska. He usually reminds me pretty quickly, but once in awhile…

A correction to my last post. It was Ohio, not Iowa: Ohio Republicans unveil new state l...rity, despite anti-gerrymandering rules (Cleveland.com)

I have a very similar experience. And I get it. They want to be left alone. But, it's when they want to impose their idiosyncrasies upon others that it becomes a problem. It works both ways, frankly. The needs/expectations of city dwellers and rural denizens are quite different. That dichotomy goes back to the country's founding and the conflict between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. It was carried forward by the parties they founded - Federalists and Anti-Federalists that morphed into Republicans and Democrats of today.

The balance was really skewed permanently when the Reapportionment Act of 1929 was enacted, ensuring that rural America would always be overrepresented. Originally it was only the Senate and Electoral College that were so skewed. Now all branches of government represent that imbalance. It's exacerbated by gerrymandering, and emphasized by hyperpartisanship. I'm not sure it can ever be corrected - or at least not until we recognize that reality.