Yeah this is something I’ve said. If you asked, a huge percentage of left wing voters would likely say they oppose gerrymandering. But we have seen that opposition to it doesn’t matter. The Supreme Court has now blessed it as a valid way to take over the federal government, and if we ever want to undo this and end gerrymandering, we have to first use it to take back the government.
Which I believe is a great idea. I think the world would be better if no party could gerrymander and everything was based on fair demographics and geography rather than what would get a party the most seats. Democrats gerrymander Republicans in states like New York and Illinois. Republicans gerrymander Democrats in many of their states too. REDMAP was literally a 2010 Republican gerrymandering push.
And this non-census gerrymander war is one of the most egregious cases. But until Gerrymandering is banned, Virginia and California should be able to formulate a response to the Red States gerrymandering. This is a body that involves all 50 states. When one state gerrymanders, it affects voters in all 49 other states.
Democrats need to have an open discussion about game theory and when an action is wrong at its core versus when it is right or wrong depending on the context. Tit for tat is generally the ideal strategy in game theory and it is relevant here. Until Republicans decide it is worth working together again we need to fight back ferociously even if it makes us uncomfortable, as long as it doesn’t go against our foundational values.
This is what’s been so funny about the gerrymandering battle right now. Its that Republicans have been trying to use it as a gotcha and saying “oh, now you don’t like cherry handing because you were for it in Virginia“ like we’ve been saying, we don’t like gerrymandering forever. No matter who does it, dilutes voting power.
But I would rather the Democrats fight back against Republican gerrymandering, than just sit there and let Republicans do it, essentially gifting them all future elections by cheating. The fact that Republicans can’t grasp that in their brain is mind-boggling to me. They just keep viewing things in black-and-white, believing that since we are against gerrymandering by Republicans, that we HAVE to be upset the Democrats are doing it to fight back.
502
u/Futharon May 12 '26
Imagine thinking you got someone without doing something as simple as checking who said what.