Just because I was sedated and sadistically eviscerated during my stint in Third Person Rehab, I still had time in between fevered dreams to think about what was going on locally and nationally. Here are a couple of observations:
1. The seeds to defeat in Saturday’s 37th RD Special Election were sown by Bob Gilligan in 2002.
2002 was the year that the Delaware General Assembly was reapportioned following the 2000 Census. The final deal looked something like this: In exchange for the R’s carving out a seat especially for Lonnie George’s daughter, the D leadership in effect sold out Dave Brady, Rick DiLiberto, John Schroeder, and Shirley Price.
If those last two names look familiar, they should. They’re both from Sussex County. Both of their districts were gerrymandered to the point where it was virtually impossible for them to get reelected. Gilligan also looked the other way while Wayne Smith carved a series of districts right at the minus 5% population threshold in Western Sussex, thus giving that area disproportionate representation while the more moderate eastern Sussex area got proportionately less.
Here’s how reapportionment works when it comes to population. If you take the entire population (not voters, but population) of the state of Delaware and divide it by 41 (the number of state representative districts), you would get the average population/district. The law permits a deviation of plus or minus 5% from that figure. Skillful manipulation of those numbers enabled the Rethugs to keep control of the House even after the population and popular sentiment turned against them. However, that would not have been possible had Gilligan and the D’s challenged the redistricting in Court, as several districts (Lavelle, Valihura, Schroeder) clearly did not meet the ‘compact and contiguous’ standard for drawing districts. Gilligan, of course, had no interest in doing this since perhaps the most clearly unlawful district (“The Barbell”) was that drawn for–wait for it–Lonnie George’s daughter. Not only had George and Gilligan been in Democratic House leadership together in the early ’80’s, but Gilligan had a real nice job at Del-Tech and Lonnie was his boss. Connect the dots.
So, what had been a reasonable district for Rep. Schroeder now became a monstrosity stretching from Lewes to Georgetown. That is the district that sent the lobbyist to Dover on Saturday.
Democrats should be thankful for a truly-inspired effort by Ron Robinson. Should he choose, he has a real political future. If there is a God, Robinson will be a resident in Bob Venables’ senatorial district. It would be difficult to imagine a greater upgrade for a Senate seat than that.
A word about Melanie George Marshall. My criticism is about the shady process that got her into office, NOT her performance there. She raises the collective IQ of the House by several points, and she is a very detail-oriented legislator who has demonstrated her effectiveness on an array of issues. Hopefully, she’ll have a district that meets minimal legal standards in 2012.
Finally, despite the handwringing from the good government types, the D’s must grab the toro by the horns after the 2010 census, and redistrict in a manner that reflects their numerical advantage. You’ll hear the usual bleating from the Rethugs, the same Rethugs who fixed the game with Gilligan’s help for the past 20 years, but bleep ’em. If the D’s are in power, it’s time to optimize it.
2. It is time for Obama to crack Democratic heads.
Depending on what seats are vacant, the D’s have somewhere around 58 Senators. He’s simply gotta call them all in and tell them, “We’re gonna pass meaningful health care reform with or without you. We’re not gonna count on any Republican support. The American people want this. It’s the right thing to do. And, if you’ve been paying attention, the main reason why the Rethugs are so virulent in their opposition is b/c they’re terrified that this will prove so popular with the American people that they will be rendered politically irrelevant. As will any of you who oppose this. I intend to use the full power of my office to reward my supporters and to punish my enemies. Senators Carper, Baucus, Lieberman and Conrad, do you understand what I’m saying?”
I’m really concerned that wussiness could well be Obama’s fatal flaw. Time to prove me wrong.