• loie@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      If Barack Obama

      Told California Democrats

      To gerrymander their map so he wouldn’t lose the House

      Conservatives would have lost their goddamned minds.

      (Again.)

      • dhork@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Of course. Those two scenarios are totally different, though. As different as black and white …

      • halferect@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        I remember when new Mexico a strong blue state gerrymandering and even though we a Lil guy republican cried and cried but we just said we playing by your rules fuck faces

        • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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          8 days ago

          There are different kinds of players in the same game. But I agree that the whole ability to bend districts in any favored direction should be removed. There are impartial ways to determine districts that change over time with the population, but neither side likes them because it’s a loss of control and potential loss of seats for both. The irony is that it would favor the left more, just like changing how we vote would favor that lean, but that gets into the issue of what “left” means in the US vs. reality, and maybe that’s part of the problem as well.

            • Zexks@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              They tried. All those big ass states out west weren’t states at the time and they all said fuck you guys with all your people and shit. So compromises were made.

    • Cousin Mose@lemmy.hogru.ch
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      8 days ago

      I live in California and I don’t recall the maps being drawn that way. At one point the State mailed a draft of the new map and explained that it was redrawn in accordance with the change in population. Overall it seemed pretty fair.

    • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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      8 days ago

      I mean, New York is a close analog, and the relatively minor gerrymander in Democrats’ favor was struck down, which is a large part of why Republicans control the House.

      So you’re right that Democrats tried, but also Democratic (and democratic) judges nullified the gerrymander.

      I guess it’s classic that they gave up political victory to have the moral high ground. So might as well give them that much?

    • NaibofTabr@infosec.pub
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      8 days ago

      Congressional maps have always been redrawn by the party in power to ensure that they remain in power. I would expect Democrats to be doing the same thing if we were talking about California.

      Claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

    • deranger@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      AFAIK it’s not enshrined in the Constitution, it’s a Supreme Court ruling that said federal courts have no authority to assess cases of gerrymandering.