6 ms·

If we had to choose one party in the U.S. that is more guilty of this sin, which would it be?

by gech 9y ago

jdpedrie 9y ago
Both -- depends who is in power at apportionment time.
chasing 9y ago
Most distortions in representation due to gerrymandering favor Republicans. So: The GOP is the more guilty party. http://election.princeton.edu/2012/12/30/gerrymanders-part-1-busting-the-both-sides-do-it-myth/ http://election.princeton.edu/2012/12/30/gerrymanders-part-1...
- asveikau 9y ago
  Worth noting that recent events bias the story towards Republicans as perpetrators because they held power in 2010 - a census year, when districts are redrawn. If 2010 had been a better year for Dems maybe we would see it the other way. (Disclaimer: My personal leanings are very anti-Republican, fwiw.)
  - chasing 9y ago
    Maybe. But I actually think it's representative of a very deliberate attempt by the GOP to take gerrymandering to the next level. The GOP has become a vicious beast over the past decade. They are not fucking around when it comes to winning and they absolutely consider "the voice of the people" as something not to be heard to but to be manipulated in various ways. I know, Democrats do it, too, blah, blah. But not like the GOP. Nowhere in the same ballpark. To quote a prominent Republican: "Sad!"
    - asveikau 9y ago
      > The GOP has become a vicious beast over the past decade. Only ten years you say? Well Reagan kicked off this crazy "government is the problem" kick which was really veiled racism (I guess you could go back to Nixon's southern strategy for some of that), then Gingrich and his crew were pretty awful power-hungry hypocrites, then we had about a decade of Karl Rove's "permanent majority" BS which thankfully looked like it was going to crash and burn this decade until its smooth, effortless and unfortunate transition into the present day with Trump... But as those kiddos say, HN is not a place to discuss politics. :-P Though Gerrymandering, I will note, the map being discussed in this post predates either political party by quite some time.
      - chasing 9y ago
        Oh, I am completely with you, trust me. The past decade is only when the GOP has truly reached its apotheosis (I hope) of hate and stupidity. A popular black liberal President who refused to have a nice juicy scandal they could exploit threw them into a special kind of froth. But, yes, it's all born of Nixon's Southern Strategy and the idea of injecting hateful cynicism into the marrow of the party. Like saying, "Even though we may not be racist ourselves, racism is something we can exploit to gain and keep power." And then over the decades substitute racism with all sorts of ugly shit. And then -- oops -- get taken over by people who are actually deranged racists because, well, now that's what your base desires. But wait: They still want to cut taxes on the rich. So it all worked out well in the end! ..... I am more than happy to discuss politics. Sounds like we're on the same page though, more or less. :-)
int_19h 9y ago
Both parties did it for a long time when and where they could, but in 2010, GOP upped the ante by making it a single coordinated campaign across the entire country, data-driven and computer-optimized. Google "REDMAP Project" for more on this.

If we had to choose one party in the U.S. that is more guilty of this sin, which would it be?

by gech 9y ago

If we had to choose one party in the U.S. that is more guilty of this sin, which would it be?

jdpedrie 9y ago

Both -- depends who is in power at apportionment time.

chasing 9y ago

Most distortions in representation due to gerrymandering favor Republicans. So: The GOP is the more guilty party. http://election.princeton.edu/2012/12/30/gerrymanders-part-1-busting-the-both-sides-do-it-myth/ http://election.princeton.edu/2012/12/30/gerrymanders-part-1...

asveikau 9y ago
Worth noting that recent events bias the story towards Republicans as perpetrators because they held power in 2010 - a census year, when districts are redrawn. If 2010 had been a better year for Dems maybe we would see it the other way. (Disclaimer: My personal leanings are very anti-Republican, fwiw.)
- chasing 9y ago
  Maybe. But I actually think it's representative of a very deliberate attempt by the GOP to take gerrymandering to the next level. The GOP has become a vicious beast over the past decade. They are not fucking around when it comes to winning and they absolutely consider "the voice of the people" as something not to be heard to but to be manipulated in various ways. I know, Democrats do it, too, blah, blah. But not like the GOP. Nowhere in the same ballpark. To quote a prominent Republican: "Sad!"
  - asveikau 9y ago
    > The GOP has become a vicious beast over the past decade. Only ten years you say? Well Reagan kicked off this crazy "government is the problem" kick which was really veiled racism (I guess you could go back to Nixon's southern strategy for some of that), then Gingrich and his crew were pretty awful power-hungry hypocrites, then we had about a decade of Karl Rove's "permanent majority" BS which thankfully looked like it was going to crash and burn this decade until its smooth, effortless and unfortunate transition into the present day with Trump... But as those kiddos say, HN is not a place to discuss politics. :-P Though Gerrymandering, I will note, the map being discussed in this post predates either political party by quite some time.
    - chasing 9y ago
      Oh, I am completely with you, trust me. The past decade is only when the GOP has truly reached its apotheosis (I hope) of hate and stupidity. A popular black liberal President who refused to have a nice juicy scandal they could exploit threw them into a special kind of froth. But, yes, it's all born of Nixon's Southern Strategy and the idea of injecting hateful cynicism into the marrow of the party. Like saying, "Even though we may not be racist ourselves, racism is something we can exploit to gain and keep power." And then over the decades substitute racism with all sorts of ugly shit. And then -- oops -- get taken over by people who are actually deranged racists because, well, now that's what your base desires. But wait: They still want to cut taxes on the rich. So it all worked out well in the end! ..... I am more than happy to discuss politics. Sounds like we're on the same page though, more or less. :-)

int_19h 9y ago

Both parties did it for a long time when and where they could, but in 2010, GOP upped the ante by making it a single coordinated campaign across the entire country, data-driven and computer-optimized. Google "REDMAP Project" for more on this.