It is distressing to hear politicians provide information that is distorted, missing key facts, or even simply untrue. Personally, I try to talk (and write) based on verifiable facts, and think it is extremely important to separate facts from opinions. Take for example the upcoming vote on redistricting. Those opposing redistricting claim that it is not “fair.” Well – the definition and importance of fairness seem to vary by political party.
Republicans are largely arguing that it is not fair to change political boundaries now in Virginia because it is gerrymandering – done to favor the Democrats. But always missing from that argument (at least I’ve never heard it), is that the only reason the Democrats are doing this is because the Republicans in Texas did it first!
Just this past August, Texas gerrymandered its Congressional districts, targeting five seats now held by Democrats in an attempt to turn them Republican in this year’s November election. This was quite a surprise. Redistricting is traditionally done every 10 years, following the decennial national census. This redistricting in Texas was not supposed to happen until after 2030. The reason it was done sooner was at the request of the President to provide more Republican Congressional seats– out of fear that the House of Representatives would change from a Republican majority to a Democratic majority. It is a complete break from the normal way of redistricting.
So – some states with a majority of Democrats decided to do the same thing. It was not done to be unfair – it was done only in response to action taken by Republicans. It was intended to even the playing field – to make national elections fair again.
I like this analogy to illustrate what was done – Texas vs Virginia football. If the Texas football team moved the goalpost for it to score to the 20-yard line, should the Virginia football team keep its where it is supposed to be? That certainly would not be fair. If the Virginia football team also moved the scoring goalpost to the 20 – that would even things up again. Of course, best would be for both teams to restore the entire field and go back to normal football. But Virginia needing to go 20 yards more than Texas to score would be ridiculous – certainly a cheating way to help guarantee victory. Equally ridiculous would-be Virginia’s citizens allowing Texas to gerrymander its Congressional districts while Virginia continued to follow the older and fairer rules. Let’s hope though that all sides can go back to fair districting in 2030.
Remember too that the control of Congress is not a local or state issue – the decisions made in Congress affect the entire country (and the world.) Anyone concerned about Virginia not being fair also should be complaining that Texas is not being fair – otherwise they are advocating for cheating our electoral system. Now though, it all boils down to a vote for redistricting in Virginia potentially leading to a change in the U.S. House of Representatives. That vote is vitally important locally to things such as the continuing increase in the prices we are paying for gasoline and food. Internationally, the President has started a major war in the Middle East, adding to our military being used in Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Africa, all of which Congress is virtually ignoring. Our military actions abroad will cost us all much more here locally than any cost-of-living reductions currently being developed by the new Virginia legislature. A vote to allow redistricting encourages a federal Congress that could at least slow down and reduce these foreign military involvements.
