Deal With It Tommy

Politifact calls out one person who has no business complaining about redistricting.

Comments

[Steve Vaughan]

I've been saying this all along. Republican drew a +2 Senate map in 2001, the sames as the Democrats this year.
What Norment's really mad about is his district, which in the original version of the Dem plan went from Suffolk to the Potomac.

[Chris]

Ben, I'm with you. We all know what redistricting entails, we all know how it works, why these politicians are so shocked and appalled is beyond me. How many times did senate and delegate candidates talk about redistricting in their campaigns for a reason to elect them?

I generally support partisan redistricting because its just more honest. Bi-partisan redistricting is just as political only worse because its done under secrecy and the guise of fairness.

[Steve Vaughan]

Chris -- Well, you COULD do it on a non-partisan basis, if the pols wanted to. Hell, we could let the college kids draw the lines, they did a better job on compact and contiguous without a political ax to grind. But, once the prospect of non-partisan redistricting has been defeated -- largely by the Senator's party -- to then be shocked is hypocritical.
"I'm shocked, shocked that there's gerrymandering going on here."

[GretchenLaskas]

Oh please. No one with a sup of sense (ok, that's a big if for plenty of people in politics....) is "shocked" or "appalled." When you get squeezed, you yell, even if when you weren't squeezed, you were fine with it.

Everyone pretty much knew this was coming, and while it's disappointing and frustrating to watch just how nasty the sausage making can be, it is by no means anything other than politics as usual.

[kelley in virginia]

while i agree with Gretchen's comment above, I still think Sen Howell's plan leaves much to be desired.

was there this much gnashing of teeth 10 years ago? & were the Senate districts so poorly drawn 10 years ago?

[Samuel Gilleran]

I just want to say this about the "merits" of the college plans - college students are partisan too. I'm sure that some, if not all, of those plans took some sort of partisanship into mind when they were drawn.

[Lovettsville Lady]

One person who shouldn't complain, even though it means he has to move. http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/the-new-22nd-senate-district-made-for-dick-black/

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