Being in Illinois, it is difficult for me to take Democratic complaints about gerrymandering seriously. And in general, it seems like one of the less egregious things the Republicans are doing right now. Or rather, it's really upsetting to Democrats, who will frame it in terms of partisan maneuvering, but it's not like they're actually against partisan maneuvering--folks who are actually against partisan maneuvering should be more focused on things like jungle primaries, instant runoff, ballot access, and diminishing the power of parties in all facets of the electoral process. The current hubub around gerrymandering just seems to be playing into the partisan hands of people who only want you to care in this particular instance.
I think you especially demonstrate what I mean here with the line "Democrats regretting their choice to unilaterally disarm themselves on the issue of gerrymandering." Nobody who actually, seriously is against gerrymandering or partisan maneuvering should regret this. Yeah, sucks that a big state like Texas hasn't reformed on this front, but every state that does is a positive, there shouldn't be anything to regret. It's not "disarming" it's "shoring up representative democracy." The moment you're asking "is this advantageous to my party" you're back to being part of the problem.
I agree that the Democrats are certainly not innocent when it comes to gerrymandering, and Illinois appears to be a bad case of it. Perhaps the current gerrymandering drama was a bad example to use. My point was that the Republicans' new blatant openness in using gerrymandering for political advantage under Trump demonstrates the populist right's power over principles mentality, which should give classical liberals who want freedom more reason to ensure that we have the 'cards' to play against the right.
Being in Illinois, it is difficult for me to take Democratic complaints about gerrymandering seriously. And in general, it seems like one of the less egregious things the Republicans are doing right now. Or rather, it's really upsetting to Democrats, who will frame it in terms of partisan maneuvering, but it's not like they're actually against partisan maneuvering--folks who are actually against partisan maneuvering should be more focused on things like jungle primaries, instant runoff, ballot access, and diminishing the power of parties in all facets of the electoral process. The current hubub around gerrymandering just seems to be playing into the partisan hands of people who only want you to care in this particular instance.
I think you especially demonstrate what I mean here with the line "Democrats regretting their choice to unilaterally disarm themselves on the issue of gerrymandering." Nobody who actually, seriously is against gerrymandering or partisan maneuvering should regret this. Yeah, sucks that a big state like Texas hasn't reformed on this front, but every state that does is a positive, there shouldn't be anything to regret. It's not "disarming" it's "shoring up representative democracy." The moment you're asking "is this advantageous to my party" you're back to being part of the problem.
I agree that the Democrats are certainly not innocent when it comes to gerrymandering, and Illinois appears to be a bad case of it. Perhaps the current gerrymandering drama was a bad example to use. My point was that the Republicans' new blatant openness in using gerrymandering for political advantage under Trump demonstrates the populist right's power over principles mentality, which should give classical liberals who want freedom more reason to ensure that we have the 'cards' to play against the right.