CA: Governor says redistricting needed; Democrat calls plan "power grab"

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 2/24/05 | Steve Lawrence - AP

[NormsRevenge]

Current districts, Schwarzenegger said, were drawn to maintain the partisan lineups that existed in the Legislature and congressional delegation following the 2000 federal census and few of them are competitive. Some look like they were drawn by "a drunk with an Etch A Sketch," he added.

[NormsRevenge]

[NormsRevenge]

http://www.fairdistricts.com/

[NormsRevenge]

A system so calculated to protect politicians and deprive voters of choice is both corrupt and anti-democratic. It also distorts the politicians it protects, forcing them to appeal in the primary election to loyal hard-liners of their party rather than the possibly undecided and party-switching center. --Los Angeles Times 2-21-05

[msnimje]

That is SHOCKING! I knew they drew "favorable" districts but this is beyond anything I could imagine (23 District).

[Sterrins]

"Schwarzenegger is pushing a constitutional amendment that would transfer the Legislature's power to draw legislative and congressional districts to a panel of retired judges that would produce new districts for the 2006 elections."

Yes, that's just what we need, more unelected judges making political decisions. We have had so much luck with that in the past.

[goldstategop]

LOL! Democrats wouldn't know what a competitive election was if it bit them on their behind. The truth is the oddly drawn shapes of CA's state legislative and congressional districts make a mockery of democracy. What's not right is not an alleged "Republican power grab"; rather, its the fact politicians have made sure to choose their voters well before Election Day.

(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")

[NorCalRepub]

I can't remember if you and I agree on this but I would like to see some type of redistricting for sure....I didn't even know about this ribbon of shame one......I know up here in Contra Costa, the districts look like a chimp throwing paint on a canvas made them up........

[NormsRevenge]

How the leftist media and polsters and special interests are openly attacking any reforms with a vengeance.

CA: (Field) Poll: Calif. voters oppose election plan (penny wise,pound foolish) ^

CA: (Field) Poll: Schwarzenegger job approval suffers ^

[pbear8]

a leading Democrat labeled the proposal a Republican power grab.

Hope so!

[passionfruit]

Please refresh my memory. Did the Dems call it a power grab when they drew the existing districts to benefit themselves?

[NorCalRepub]

plus.......what the hell does Monterey county have with Ventura and Oxnard......good grief.....Monterey and Salinas are actually more farmland where as southern cal is just, well it isn't coastal farmland that is for sure......

[goldstategop]

I'm in favor of having half the members elected by single member districts and the other half chosen by an open party PR list. That reform alone would break the hammerlock by the liberal political elite here on CA state politics.

(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")

[Mr. Jeeves]

Did the Dems call it a power grab when they drew the existing districts to benefit themselves?

Well, they grabbed it fair and square. It's not fair if the Republicans try to grab it back. ;)

[passionfruit]

Thanks, that clears things up:)

[John Lenin]

Incredible

[NormsRevenge]

The judges would be from a pool of retired judges, It is one of the main areas of contention as to how you can guarantee impartiality .. and non partisan line drawing.

Ted Costa supports a 3 judge panel, arnold supports a 5 judge panel.

I support a random district generating computer program running on Linux, not Windows , myself. lol

Also, the practice of splitting large cities up into multiple districts is a bone of contention as well.

Lots of issues involved, but the alternative is do nothing and sink even faster.

al least the issue is finally getting outed bigtime, controversy or not.

[NormsRevenge]

I don't think we have any major disgreements.. I know concerns have been raised about us just replacing one version of gerrymandering with a more subtle form.

Doing nothing insures disaster into the foreseeable future.

which , if disaster equals bankruptcy, maybe that is what it will take to snap a lot of folks out of their myopic views of things here in this state.

[NormsRevenge]

fyi

[Mr. Jeeves]

Just view the world from the position of a two-year-old in a sandbox, and the entire Democrat platform starts to make perfect sense. ;)