2010 Census: How Will Politics Affect Politics?

All that effort, all the time and money spent on the 2010 Census, all the encouragement from the government to stand up and be counted, and who ironically is the most likely to benefit from it?

Republicans, that's who. With the 2010 mid-term elections shaping up as a political windfall for the GOP, and with many states holding gubernatorial elections as well, what we have is yet another fear for the left coming to fruition. You see, the States will be redistricting the House of Representatives, and the more states controlled by the GOP, the more likely that new districts will benefit the Republicans in 2012.

The Census figures will not be available in time to affect this year's vote, but will certainly have a major effect on the makeup of Congress after November 2012. So this year's elections may well be of that rare type and quality which affect, not simply the immediate political landscape but that of at least the next decade. It is an opportunity the Republicans will surely do all that they can for their best advantage.

But more than that. Let's face it: the people most likely to have filled out their Census forms or at least made sure they were counted are the same people most likely to come out for what are often seen as less important elections. The people who don't get counted are generally the ones whose regular participation in the electoral process is less than exemplary. They don't get involved in much of anything, preferring to stay in the shadows for whatever reason. While the folks who do make themselves known tend to be Republican.

For all of our Democratic and liberal friends, be afraid. Be very afraid.