Redistricting: Congressional races become invisible

[question everything]

SignOnSanDiego.com

Redistricting: Congressional races become invisible

By John Lee Evans
January 12, 2005


(snip)

We mock sham elections in undemocratic countries where the state candidate wins 98 percent to 100 percent of the vote, but we do not blink when our congressional representatives are re-elected at the rate of 98 out of 100. In a democratic country with open and free elections, why are over 400 seats labeled "safe" and only a handful "competitive?" It's certainly not because the public is extremely satisfied with Congress.

The Founders envisioned the House as most responsive to the voters with a two-year election cycle, but gerrymandering by both parties has eliminated that. Both political parties collude in protecting incumbents. The Democratic-controlled Legislature in California preserved the status quo. Texas, however, was even more partisan in its redistricting and actually produced gains for the GOP. Iowa has established a less partisan means of redrawing congressional boundaries. Like San Diego County, the state has five congressional Representatives. It adopted rules for drawing lines that discourage dividing up communities and that make the districts as compact as possible. Political party registration patterns cannot be taken into account.

(snip)

As a University City resident, I was represented by Susan Davis until my neighborhood was redistricted into Randy Cunningham's district. Part of University City remained in Davis' district, while my neighborhood was assigned to a far-flung North County district. I signed on as a volunteer in the Francine Busby campaign in the 50th District this year. Since Congress is our local connection to national politics, I decided that this was where I could best express my frustration with national policy. Even some Democrats scoffed at the notion of a viable campaign. As a member of the publicity committee, I found out how difficult it is to attract the attention of the media. One columnist merely described Busby as the Democrats' "sacrificial lamb." A staff member for one representative told me early on that congressional races are largely ignored in the local media. This actually adds to the "safety" of the incumbents.

(snip)

Can our "tenured" members of Congress only be replaced due to scandal? That's how Gary Condit lost his Modesto-area seat. Cunningham came into office by defeating an incumbent, Jim Bates, who was in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. One advantage that incumbents always tout is their ability to channel federal tax dollars into their districts. However, if they are re-elected on this basis, Congress becomes no more than a collection of competing local interests. The national interest is lost. Then no clear conclusion about national policy can be drawn from congressional elections.

We need congressional districts drawn with reasonable geographic lines of contiguous communities without regard to party registration. The process needs to be taken out of the hands of politicians who protect their interests. Rather than districts being Blue or Red, they would be varying shades of Purple. This would result in the candidates needing to appeal to voters across party lines. Then the media would actually give more coverage to races deemed "competitive."

(snip)

Evans, a San Diego psychologist, was a member of the Busby for Congress Publicity Committee.


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050112/news_lz1e12evans.html

Click Here to Print
SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close
Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article.