Republican Congress member Marsha Blackburn's gerrymander (District 7) comes fully back-loaded to pull together Tennessee's reddest constituents for conservative legislative pleasure.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Marsha's Gerrymandered Baby Got Back
Republican Congress member Marsha Blackburn's gerrymander (District 7) comes fully back-loaded to pull together Tennessee's reddest constituents for conservative legislative pleasure.
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and this district was drawn up by a Democratically controlled state house, right?
ReplyDeleteFurther proof that the bulk of Tennessee Democrats in the Gen-Ass are conservative.
ReplyDeleteor that the Dems and Reps alike will do the same thing when re-districting comes around - protect the incumbents. Look at Lincoln Davis' district to see one just as Ass-inine.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteThis had nothing to do with the Dems in the Legislature being 'Conservative.' This was a power play to gain advantage by redistricting. When Republicans do it, Democrats and Leftists go crazy but never seem to be bothered when their side does it.
The Seventh was drawn after the 2000 census to achieve certain ends.
First, it was designed by Democrats to minimize Republican voting power. The district is one of the most solidly Republican in the entire Congress, diluting the total Republican Congressional vote statewide.
Second, related to the first, the district was drawn to help protect declining Democrat hopes in the 6th and 8th Congressional districts. While Congressmen Gordon and Tanner remain popular and hard to defeat, after they go, the demographic trends of the state do not favor their party holding those districts.
The 6th is particularly influenced by the Conservative demographic tide. When Congressman Gordon was first elected, the big counties of Rutherford, Sumner and Wilson were reliably Democrat. Today there are almost no Democrats from those counties in either the State House or Senate. If the Republicans draw the lines after 2010, even a formidable professional politician like Congressman Gordon will find the number daunting. Without him, the Democrats may not have any hope of winning the seat.
Third, the district was drawn by Democrats to reduce the possibility of any popular Middle Tennessee Republican gaining a congressional seat and parlaying it into a statewide run. By weighting the 7th to Shelby County, they hoped that the Republican would come from West Tennessee and have less of a statewide appeal.
Instead, by placing parts of the state's two largest counties in the same district, and underestimating Marsha, the Democrats ended up creating the ideal district from which to run statewide. They gave her a district with excellent local parties, grassroots troops, big donors, and the most influential statewide media. And it ended up in the hands of the most highly organized and hardest working candidate around to boot.
Talk about your karmic chickens coming home to roost...
Doesn't excuse her ignorance and the embarrassment to TN she is. Why can't both sides put smart, articulate people in congress? She never makes any sense in interviews.
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