Redistricting, Principles, Action, and Power
Why Democrats must do more with their power when they have it.
As I write this, we are just a few days into the ninth month of Donald Trump’s second term as President. At the analogous point in his first term, I would have been on team “when they go low, we go high”. I would have been wrong. As someone who truly believes in the democratic experiment, it was difficult for me to adjust my thinking and accept that simply playing by the rules and actually fighting for policies that would benefit majorities of the American people, was never going to win the consistent support of those majorities. I still wish that were the reality but it is not. Most American voters don’t pay attention to ongoing policy debates and how what happened last term has improved (or not) their lives. They vote based on what is happening right now and they vote for those they see who are actively doing something. In other words, despite what most are likely to say, they want to see leaders exercising power rather than negotiating. I can’t say exactly when I fully came to recognize this but ongoing events provide a critical example of why Democrats must not hesitate to use power to get things done when they have that power, even if it means refusing to compromise with Republicans (this insistence on always being willing to compromise has arguably been one of Democrats’ biggest weaknesses).
The events to which I am referring are the ongoing efforts at mid- decade redistricting to tip the balance of power in the House of Representatives. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and California Governor Gavin Newsom are probably the two most recognized names engaged in this effort. Abbott is in the wrong in doing so and Newsom is in the right. Now, this obviously sounds hypocritical but explaining why it is not is the main objective of this post. Abbot undertook his redistricting plan not to address unfair district boundaries or an imbalance in the state’s delegation in Washington, D.C. but simply because the President asked him to in order to help ensure Republicans maintain control of the Hose after next year’s elections. And also, because he could. Newsom on the other hand, would never have contemplated mid-decade redistricting had Trump not first encouraged Republican governors to do the same first. Newsom’s effort is designed to balance out the changes being made in Texas. Motives matter. So do methods. And the way Texas and California have gone about their respective redistricting plans are very different. In Texas, GOP leadership in Austin is simply drawing new maps and ramming them through the state legislature for Abbott to sign. They’re not asking the state’s citizens about their views on the issue because they don’t care. This isn’t about fair districts or representation for Texas voters. It is about helping to protect Donald Trump. California is taking a very different approach. Newsom freely admits he is proposing the changes to counter what is being done in Texas and that he is using his powers as governor because he can. The difference is that in California, they are not simply drawing new maps for the governor to sign into law. Instead, they are passing a ballot initiative for the people of California to vote on. This ballot measure, if approved by California’s voters, will allow one time mid-cycle redistricting while maintaining the state’s independent redistricting commission and the state’s commitment to non-partisan redistricting commissions everywhere.
It's too soon to know how the ongoing redistricting war will play out but it reveals the importance of using power when you have it while at the same time exposing that power can be used without being abused. Democrats have long called for state and national redistricting commissions much like the one that exists in California. And they have implemented them when and where they have had the majorities to do so. Republicans have opposed these efforts at every step and refused to even consider them in states where they hold the majority of seats. A few days ago, my wife was watching one of the political YouTube channels she enjoys and it was airing a discussion between Governor Newsom and Beto O’Rourke of Texas. The bulk of their conversation was essentially what I am arguing here: that Democrats must learn to use power when and where they have it and stop imagining that they can get things done by simply convincing more people. That strategy has failed and we must accept this and adopt a new one. The contrast of methods between Texas and California shows that this can be achieved without abandoning core principles. By doing so, Democrats will more successfully be able to achieve one of their core aims – achieving long term change.
To understand what I mean by this we must look to one of our great enemies for inspiration. Like most of my readers I’m sure, I was appalled when Mitch McConnell used his position as Senate Majority Leader to block President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. I was equally outraged a few years later when, ignoring his own precedent, McConnell rushed through the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett. People with much stronger credentials than myself argued that McConnell’s blocking of Garland’s nomination was unconstitutional. He did it anyway though. Because he could. If presented with similar circumstances, the next Democrat Senate Majority Leader should do the same. Seriously. Because McConnell’s actions are what put us in the situation we are in today. It was his (not Trump’s) Supreme Court that effectively eviscerated the Voting Rights act and has allowed Gregg Abbott and the Texas state legislature to do what they are doing. Mitch McConnell, a singular man with no chin and the neck of a turtle, exercised the power he had in his position and because of that act, Californians will vote in November on whether or not they will allow new legislative districts to be drawn in their state.
If Democrats truly want to enact lasting and meaningful changes, they must accept that political reality is not what we wish it were. They must recognize that voters respond to actions achievements much more than they do appeals to what is right. They must embrace new methods using their power when and where they have to show people what they will get when they put Democrats in charge and those Democrats actually use the power they are given. This is what voters want. Not platitudes about finding middle ground or ceaseless negotiations that never lead to promised compromises. It sounds great in theory but it rarely achieves anything in the modern political environment. Even if they can’t articulate it, voters recognize this. And so they want action. Let’s give them what they want.