Saturday, January 26, 2013

Win, Lose, Or Redraw


In 2012, the GOP lost the presidency, they lost the Senate, they lost the vote count in the House of Representatives by a combined 1.1 million votes. Republicans haven't gotten an ass paddling like that since D.C. shut down Madame Kink's Rump Dungeon. If it's Wednesday, ask for the "trickle down".

And it is getting so bad, that to win the presidency next time, some are saying that Republicans might have to change their messaging, or change their policies, or change the constituencies that they serve. Now thankfully, there's a better answer, and it brings us to tonight's Word: Win, Lose, or Redraw.

Yes, even though they lost the popular combined vote, the GOP kept control of the House by a 33-seat margin. And they did it without watering down the Republican Party platform. ("Rape Is So Misunderstood.") 
Now, just how did the Republicans do it? (Missionary Style?) They did it with a little thing I call gerrymandering. (Named for Gerald Mander, The Third) You see, back in 2010, Republican state legislatures across the nation redrew Congressional districts to make them a lock for the GOP. And in some cases, just to send a message to the Democrats. 
Because that's the beauty of gerrymandering. Instead of voters getting to pick their leaders, leaders get to pick their voters. (Me, The People) And I say, why not? We should trust our leaders. After all, we voted them in. (Once, Back in the 70's.) 
Well, now that the GOP has its gerrymandering game down, they are ready to take it to the next level. Republican legislators in the key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, are lining up behind proposals that would allocate presidential electoral college votes by congressional district. As a supporter of this idea, Pennsylvania state senator Dominic Pileggi argues, "the current winner-take-all system is inherently unfair because the losing party... gets no credit in the electoral count". 
Yeah, the losing party never gets to pick the President. This legislation just allows Republicans to level the playing field. (And Turn It Into A Golf Course) Because folks, here's the great part. If you applied this plan to the 2012 election, even though 5 million more people voted for the Democrat, the Republican would've won the presidency by 22 electoral votes. [source]
Also: Scott Walker: Electoral Vote Proportional Allocation An Interesting Idea

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