Poor Losers

The first Michigan redistricting maps have been released, and the expected outrage is being released by the Democrats. The current plan, if enacted, will pit Democrats Gary Peters and Sander Levin against one another.

That's surely not a surprise. With the Republicans controlling the process and Michigan losing a seat in the House of Representatives, of course we would end up with two Democrats pitted against each other. It certainly wasn't going to be the two minority representatives, John Conyers and Hansen Clarke, for the various legal and PC reasons. Don't forget either that the Democrats would have sent two Republicans into a potential face off if they dominated redistricting. Railing against the GOP as things currently stand is simply hyperbole. And hypocritical.

Peters could move, and face Republican Congressman Thaddeus McCotter in a district which should favor the GOP (again, stop whining, Democrats; you would have done something similar had you the chance). High ranking Democrats nationally see such a pairing as a potential gain should that scenario play out. Yet if voting trends continue as expected, Peters is a goner in 2012. The Democrats will not retake the House at any rate, so it hardly matters.

But the real bottom line is that the Democrats are stuck. Given that compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires that minority representation not be diminished along with the fact that Detroit lost a quarter of its population, and drawing snakelike and rabbit like districts as Levin and Peters decry is the only realistic option. If you really want to blame someone for the quandary, well, blame the sponsors of legislation which now commands the process. That's right, LBJ and the Democrats.

We must admit, the irony is delicious.