Bipartisan redistricting? McDonnell should have let it go
By JR Hoeft | Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 | PolicyPromises made, promises kept. That’s been Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s model for governance since I first met him. Unfortunately, bipartisan redistricting is one campaign promise he should have left wither on the vine.
First, let’s look at this from a policy perspective: the commission has no authority. It is strictly advisory; so, I’m pretty certain I can predict the feedback the group will get from Speaker Bill Howell and Senate Democratic Leader Dick Saslaw. It likely involves the words “stick” and “it.”
Second, while former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat, applauds the approach, and Republicans Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney Gen. Ken Cuccinelli have added their “seconds”, bipartisan redistricting is always something that the party not in power is supposed to applaud. Well, guess, what. They really don’t.
If you look at Waldo Jaquith and the “new” All Politics Is Local (the state’s leading Democratic-leaning blog, by the way), neither is satisfied with the plan, nor is the editorial page of the Washington Post.
At APL, Steve Vaughn writes:
After passing up a chance last year to push his reluctant allies in the House to do something about bi-partisan redistricting in time to matter for this year’s redrawing of the state’s congressional and legislative districts, the governor appointed an advisory panel the other day. Their input, which legislators aren’t under any requirement to pay attention to, might have some impact on redistricting. In 2021.
The fact is McDonnell never favored bi-partisan redistricting. He was a consistent vote against it when he was in the House. But his half measure this year allows him to say he’s fulfilled a campaign promise, without having any effect on the partisan gerrymander that House Republicans have planned.
Having allowed last year’s legislative session to go by without a word in favor of any of the bills that would have reformed redistricting—back when it would have been possible to change the process prior to getting the results of last year’s census—[McDonnell's] left covering his reputation with this fig leaf. His bipartisan eleven-member commission will advise him on redistricting. Which would be really cool, if he were in charge of redistricting.
And, the reaction from the left is wrapped up by the oh-so balanced Washington Post editorial board:
Does Mr. McDonnell sincerely want to clean up the way electoral maps are drawn, as some states have done? Or is he simply – and cynically – going through the motions of honoring a campaign promise?
Ugh.
The right thing to do here, governor, with all due respect, was to do what you did all through your legislative career – oppose this nonsense.
In 2009, the election was about jobs, not bipartisan redistricting. McDonnell need not have made this promise, and still would have won in a landslide.
Despite the fact that I, as Waldo, also know several really good people on this commission, there is absolutely no reason for the commission to exist. Ever.
As we have argued as conservatives time and again, the way the legislature works on redistricting is exactly how our framers intended it to work. It’s supposed to be a difficult process with partisan wrangling and an incumbents’ protection society. And we, as voters, have every right to hold these legislators accountable for their actions. Regardless of how awesome the people on the commission are, they have no accountability. That’s not good, nor democratic, government.
These sorts of independent commissions have always been a step in the wrong direction.
And this is one campaign promise McDonnell shouldn’t have kept.
Read more about Executive Order #31 and the commission’s makeup.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
Comments
8 Responses to "Bipartisan redistricting? McDonnell should have let it go"
So you think partisan politicians should continue to be the ones to duke it out and decide the lines of voting for the next 10 years with the incumbents having the edge? Bye bye Northern Virginia.
Actually, I agree; what a waste of time and money. Frankly, just like these hearings around the Commonwealth in which Legislators purport to listen to input on the State budget. A total dysfunctional process in which the Legislators can barely stay awake, and even the participants seem to realize they are speaking but no one is listening. And the Governor bears some responsibility here; he holds his cards so close to his vest, that if you read the press releases, he will do everything with nothing. Of course, more details to follow, but he disarms his critics so they don’t see it coming.
I bet most voters don’t know in these lines drawn, it can go by street and house number to cut out a person who could win against an incumbent or is a threat to ruling parties.
This extreme partisan politics when it comes to drawing voting districts helped George Allen, as he was cut out by Democrats and placed in another district. He ran for Governor and won.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Allen_%28U.S._politician%29
MB: Not the most useless hearings they hold. They’ve also held public hearings on redistricting and I’m sure more will be scheduled. That’s truly an area where they’re only asking for our input as a show. the actual decisions will be made by a couple of legislators and a couple of aides gathered around a computer screen in the majority caucuses offices.
Your words Steve, “The actual decisions will be made by a couple of legislators and a couple of aides gathered around a computer screen in the majority caucuses offices” is the way it’s been. Does that mean it should continue to be that way? Is it fair to the voters?
Kathy: No, I don’t think so. I’d rather see a bi-parisan commission do it. Just draw compact, contiguos districts with about the same number of people in them (you’re allowed a 5% variance), without paying any attention to what the party performance is in the district or where incumbents happen to live. I’m not, however, naive enough to believe that’s ever going to happen.
Didn’t happen under Democratic leadership but McDonnell is trying. By the way, I’ve known him since 1991 and I’ve never known him to be disingenuous.
I think JR Hoeft has this one right. What I think we shouuld care about are two things: the census we are using is accurate, and the incumbents obey the law when they redraw the district boundaries.
We are talking about ambitious human beings. We know they are going to gerrymander. The people with the most clout will try to draw the lines to further their objectives — whatever they are.
Just the same, so long as the vote is honest, and the scoundrels don’t do anything unconstitutional, we can still throw enough of them out when the time comes. The process does not have to be perfect. We just have to hold the people involved in it accountable — commission or no commission.
When we are not angels, it is pointless to expect to people we elect to behave like angels. Look at what is happening in DC. When our expectations get too high, we start giving people who cannot control their ambitions too much power.
Leave your response
The comments section is for meaningful discussion. Readers are reminded to post comments that are germane to the article and write in a common language that steers clear of personal attacks and/or vulgarities.
Please take a moment to review our comment policy.