Or at least scream: it turns out that the redistricting map for Michigan signed off on by Republican governor Rick Snyder last week seriously discombobulates long-time Democrat and House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers. The new map (which, incidentally, handles Michigan’s loss of a Congressional seat by effectively eliminating Democrat Gary Peters’ seat and making the rest more party-friendly) pretty much took Conyer’s MI-14 seat and redrew it until he had roughly 20% of the same constituents that he started off with.
If you’re wondering why the Republicans think that they can get away with that – particularly since Conyers is an African-American with a majority-minority district – it’s because the Michigan GOP was very careful in drawing this district (and, apparently, MI-13). As I understand it, the new district is in point of fact drawn to reflect the racial gerrymandering requirements of the Voting Rights Act: which is to say, it’s still majority-minority. It’s just no longer friendly to Conyers specifically… which is not the Republican party’s problem. Or the courts’. Or Michigan’s, really. Or possibly even the Democratic party’s: Conyers may have run unopposed in the 2010 primary, but that’s apparently not going to happen now…
Speaking more generally: this sort of thing should show people the pitfalls of racial gerrymandering in the first place – even when it ends up benefiting your side. Conyers is bawling because he has to actually participate in the democratic process for the first time in decades – and even then he’s just going to have to worry about the primary, not the general election. Not to mention that Conyers’ likely opponents should not have had to wait until the GOP was in a position to redraw the map in order to get a shot at the seat. In other words: while this situation is amusing, it’s also an affront to both republican and democratic principles (note lack of capitalization). Put in still other words, this situation shows how Congressional races are often reflective of neither popular will nor good governance.
Which annoys.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
Aaron Gardner
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Dan McLaughlin
I was curious whether Conyers' wife was still in the slammer...
LaborUnionReport (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 12:28PM EST (link)And saw she is trying to get out…
http://www.blackradionetwork.com/rep__john_conyers__wife_seeks_release_from_prison
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If Obama loses in 2012..guess who's gonna get a pardon?
gawken (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 1:03PM EST (link)Works for me…I’d take that trade any day, for the benefit of the country..
Sadly enough yes... and lots more as well...
anotherindyfilmguy (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 1:30PM EST (link)which is one more reason I hOpe *someone* in the Congress/House put’s together enough separate charges to impeach the O before he can do that.
I sometimes wonder if the prospect of Biden becoming the new pOtus is the only thing holding back impeachment from being filed. But then again the O makes Biden is look better and better every day, which is a tough thing to do.
Santorum? Well, at least he’s not Romney…
http://www.zazzle.com/enemy_of_the_statist_tshirt-235977043035297478
small correction: 37 months, not years (nt)
Joshua Persons (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 1:43PM EST (link)nt
Formerly jpers36
NARF
This map doesn't even look all that gerrymandered
Finrod (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 12:37PM EST (link)The only peculiar districts are the ones going through Detroit; the rest look fairly standard. Most of them would fairly easily pass my bounding box test for overly-gerrymandered districts.
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?
Sadistic. I love it.
mustango (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 1:06PM EST (link)Stripping Conyers of his precious Downriver and giving it to John Dingell is far more sadistic than I thought the GOP was capable of. And Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield getting Conyers thrown in their collective laps… I wish it didn’t practically take being a native of the area to appreciate how awesomely ridiculous that is.
“I just miss — I miss being anonymous.” — Barack Obama
I fully sympathize, Mr. President. I miss you being anonymous too.
Let me see if I understand local geopolitics
michael_j_lambert (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 3:37PM EST (link)They are throwing Conyers against Feiger. And a local state senator. And the mayor of southfield. All people who can actually point to things they have done in the last 2 years to get things done.
For a minute I thought it was the suburban influx that was going to kill Conyers. Actually, that is probably what will happen.
You mean..
lizfstone Monday, August 15th at 12:48PM EST (link)John Conyers of the “Good and Plenty”-clause-in-the-Constitution- fame when asked if the Healthcare Law was constitutional? Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Maybe Georgia can redistrict Hank Johnson of “Guam is going to tip over fame” too.
How, ( and why?) does one run UNOPPOSED in a primary?
gawken (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 1:01PM EST (link)Moe….just gotta ask. Inquiring minds want to know….
Well, you start by being in Congress for forty-five years...
Moe Lane (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 2:06PM EST (link)…and acquiring power to the point where you’re House Judiciary chair (which Conyers was, in 2010). In a district that’s effectively designed with your needs in mind. Then you give everybody in your party who thinks about running for your seat the Look. The I’m-memorizing-your-face-look.
That’s how you do it.
Moe
PS Mind you, if Kilpatrick hadn’t been kicked out in 2010 and replaced with a freshman Dem the MI GOP might not have tried this trick.
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Floor and Ceilings
ss396 Monday, August 15th at 2:22PM EST (link)Gerrymandering, for any purpose, establishes a floor for representation of whomever the gerrymandering was intended to favor.
What gets overlooked is that by installing a floor you also install a ceiling. The benefiting demographic can keep the seat, but they cannot gain another. Additional gains will require skill and talent, not just some special characteristic. But the person claiming that guaranteed seat gains neither skill nor talent simply because they don’t have to by virture of that guarantee.
It’s tough having to earn your living by merit, isn’t it?
If you pay someone to sit on his butt, you can’t be surprised when he does.
Why does
caboose Monday, August 15th at 3:24PM EST (link)States put up with courts ordering them to draw a district, no matter how stupid , for racial purposes. This is clearly a violation of the US Constitution. State governments need to tell the SCOTUS to screw themself. No lower Court even has the authority to hear a case if a state is a party to such suit. Reference Article lll, Sec. ll of the US Constitution.
caboose, I believe that the relevant case was...
Moe Lane (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 5:32PM EST (link)…Lincoln v. Davis. Grant wrote the majority opinion, with concurring ones from Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, & Farragut; Lee, Stuart, Longstreet, & Jackson dissented.
(I so totally stole this from somebody else, by the way.)
The Kim Kardashian of blogging.
Check out my blog at http://moelane.com/.
http://moelane.com/filthy-lucre-filthy-lucre/
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My (combined) wish list.
What about Sander Levin
freemanja1991 (Diary) Monday, August 15th at 6:16PM EST (link)His district is D+12 now and was combined with Peter’s. What do we think it is D+ now? I know Rocky Raczkowski, is in the District with Sanders now. What would he be facing if he stays there?