A girl can dream…how do we wake up from this redistricting nightmare?

This redistricting kerfuffle is a big mess.  The Texas Republican leadership wants to help solidify power for the Republicans at the Federal level.  Their plan is to redraw district lines in Texas so that it is more likely Republicans will win seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Normally this is done once every 10-years when new census numbers come out – but the idea is that they will do this now so that Republicans can retain control of the U.S. House at the midterm elections and maybe even grow their margin of control.  This would help make sure that President Trump can keep on implementing his agenda without having to worry as much about whether the U.S. House will play along.

As far as I can tell, there is no law against drawing new lines between censuses, it’s just usually not done.  The Democrats decry this as “an obvious power grab,” which clearly it is – I mean, that’s the whole point, right? – but it doesn’t seem to be an illegal power grab.

The Texas Republicans have the majority in both the Texas House and the Texas Senate, so, to them, that means they can do what they want as long as it’s basically legal.  I imagine if they get their way it will be challenged in the courts, but for now, let’s assume that if they pass the new district lines, they would stand.  It remains to be seen if the new district map would actually result in more Republicans in the U.S. House – that’s what elections are for – but the Republicans think they would get the results they want, and I imagine they have thought it through pretty thoroughly.

The Democrats don’t want the new lines drawn. They don’t want the Republicans to solidify power in the U.S. House.   Being the minority though, the Dems don’t have very many tools at their disposal to stop it.  One of those few tools is to not show up.  With no Democrats there is no quorum, and no vote can be taken.  I can’t actually think of any other tool they have.  I guess they couldn’t either, because that’s the tool they are using – even though it is not clear how long they can hold out or what they think is going to happen next to make it possible for them to come home.

So now, no work can go forward.  Yay. (She said with obvious sarcasm).

That might not be so awfully bad – I mean it is just a special session – but in this case it would be good if the legislature could at least take some action regarding much needed flood relief for the folks who were harmed in the terrible Fourth of July flooding on the Guadalupe River.   So, Texans are suffering needlessly because our elected representatives can’t figure out a way to work together.

On the face of it, our system is set up so that the majority usually gets their way – which seems fair.

When it gets right down to it, if groups of people disagree, and you have to make a decision, voting seems as good a way as any to settle the decision.  That means, with a few exceptions where the courts step in, the majority gets their way most of the time.

The confounding issue here, though, is that it is possible to draw district lines in such a way that the majority opinion of the voters is not necessarily represented – our word for that is “gerrymandering.”

McLennan County is a good example of gerrymandering.  By cutting off East Waco and part of South Waco from House District 56 and combining it with House District 13, it makes it more likely that both HD 13 and HD 56 will elect Republican representatives.  It could be that both of those districts would go Republican any way. But, if all of McLennan County were represented by one House District (like it used to be), there would at least be more of a fighting chance that it would elect a Democrat representative.

Of course, there are plenty of examples of places where the gerrymandering goes the other way and Democrats benefit.  The point is not that Republicans or Democrats are bad – the point is that it is possible to mess with the lines in such a way that the majority opinion is not necessarily being represented.

The Republicans in Texas currently have the power. They are trying to re-jigger the lines to increase their power and to make it more permanent.  The Democrats, having few options to resist, have pushed the red button for the “nuclear” option of a  quorum break.  Now everybody is stuck.

We can all be mad and call the other side names, but to me this is not so much a “Republican” and “Democrat” issue.  One side is not necessarily more “noble” than the other.  I could see either side doing exactly what the other side is doing if positions were reversed.  The issue to me is whether the intent of the district map is to fairly represent the will of the people or whether the intent is that whoever is in power gets the right to draw the lines as they see fit to try to keep their power.

I guess the real question for us as voters is do we want a system where one side or the other is entitled to get and keep power and to use their power to make it ever more likely that they will continue to be in power?  Or do we want a system where the pendulum can potentially swing back and forth between the two parties (or more parties if we had them), so that we continuously adjust toward the middle.  That depends on whether we believe one side always has the best ideas, or we believe that we get better ideas from listening to each other.

I believe we get the best ideas from listening to each other and finding ways to work together, and we need to try to build a system that incentivizes that. Gerrymandering dis-incentivizes working together, it incentivizes greater polarization.

In my dreams, the Texas Republicans and Democrats would set up some kind of peace talk and hammer out an agreement on re-districting that would let them all get back to work.  In my dreams, we would use some kind of mathematical modeling that would draw the district lines as “fairly” as possible – I’m not even sure exactly what I mean by “fairly,” maybe using some kind of geographical criteria or some kind of population density criteria.   (I’m sure other people have thought about this more than I have and have ideas about how to do it.)

The problem with making my dreams come true is that it’s in the Republican’s hands to make it happen.  They are in control, and they would most likely have to offer the first tiny olive twig.   They are not likely to do that – not necessarily because they are Republicans – but because whoever is in power is not likely to voluntarily give up that power.

What to do?  The only option I see is that we the people – the voters – need to let our representatives know that we are more interested in getting work done than in solidifying power for either party…and we plan to vote accordingly the next chance we get.

Democrats can certainly make phone calls and write letters to our elected leaders – but that won’t be enough.  What about you, moderate Republicans?  What about you, people who don’t identify with either party?  What about you, people who are just tired of watching all the drama with no real results?

Will you write to or call your elected folks and let them know you would like to see a compromise on redistricting – maybe a bi-partisan committee, or some independent group – that would give us a shot at drawing districts that incentivize working together when the time comes?  Maybe then everybody could get back to work.

That could make a difference.   If your elected representatives knew that they don’t get your vote just for having an “R” by their names, if they understood they need to earn your vote by figuring out ways to get work done, even if that means working with “the other team” — they might listen to you.  If they know you are paying attention, and you plan to vote for someone who cares more about helping people than solidifying power, maybe they would listen to you.

I know it’s a long shot.  I know we have been polarized for a while, but I have at least a little hope that people are getting tired of it and are ready to figure out ways to work together to get things done.  It’s the best idea I have so far. I’d love to hear if you have others!

I feel like the alternative is just wait it out, keep calling each other names, and do it all again next time, and next time, and next time.

I think we can do better than that! (She said with at least a spoonful of cautious optimism.)