Posted on 07/28/2003 1:58:56 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
An e-mail from a constituent in Middle Georgia is indicative of public feelings about the Legislature's approach to drawing political lines.
"I just found out you were my senator," a woman from Monticello in Jasper County wrote to state Sen. Dan Lee (R-LaGrange), who lives 100 miles away.
"This is crazy," the e-mail continued. "I've heard you've been to Monticello many times. I've never been to LaGrange. I can't imagine what we have in common."
Many Georgia voters are confused or irritated by the Democratically drawn districts for their state senators and representatives.
"The Democrats are missing the point. I really don't think they understand," Lee said. "It's discussed every day by people who contact me."
……………….. "The redistricting issue is here to stay, and it's going to keep coming up as an epitaph of Democratic legislators," said Dan McLagan, a spokesman for the governor and a key player in Perdue's 2002 campaign. But Democrats say that Republicans are talking and acting in desperation.
"People are going to start to question whether they want people in power who obsess about increasing the amount of seats they have and worry about their own political power. We don't even think about it," said Jeff DiSantis, executive director of the Georgia Democratic Party.
Attempt made in Texas
"What the people of Georgia really want is someone to focus on creating jobs, improving education, improving public safety, and that's what we're going to focus on," Di-Santis said. "The redistricting process is meant to be a once-a-decade process after the federal government does its census. There's no reason to be redistricting for partisan purposes every time someone decides they don't like their districts."
But similar moves are being made in other states. Texas, for example, is in a special session now to draw new congressional lines.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry called a special session after some Democratic House members hid out in Oklahoma until the end of the regular session so that the Texas General Assembly could not muster a quorum.
Redistricting has been declared dead for this special session, which ends Tuesday at midnight, but Perry has suggested that he would call a second special session to get a new map passed.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Redistricting has never been a problem caused by the Republicans in Texas because this is the first time that the Republicans have had a majority in the state legislature. Just like Houston's mayoral races carry no party affiliation; it is only when a Republican runs that suddenly it is a "paritsan race" with "partisan politics".
The Rats run the show and there is not a peep out of the press. The state legislature is controlled by Republicans but the federal representation of Texans is dominated by Democrats because of congressional districts that favor Democrats.
The lines are redrawn on a regular basis, the rats just want to be the ones who determine where they cut. Just like the rats would like to be the ones who approve/reject Supreme Court nominations.
Bump!
Yes, you need to vote for the machine that drives the agenda you want.
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