CNN’s Cillizza Hails Dem ‘Redistricting’; Earlier Denounced GOP ‘Gerrymandering’

It was less than a whole year ago that CNN’s Chris Cillizza condemned “gerrymandering”, a shameful attempt by Republicans for “outlandish legislative or congressional districts to serve political purposes.” This is now a positive thing. What is the secret to this? Because Democrats now draw the bizarre congressional and legislative districts solely for political purposes.

First let us take a short time trip to less than a year ago to April 6, 2021 when Cillizza was in the middle of throwing a political conniption fit in “Voters say *this* is the biggest election problem in the country.”

You might conclude, given the current fight for the Georgia election law and subsequent decision of Major League Baseball to cancel its All-Star Game in Atlanta this summer, that attempts to limit access to the ballot boxes would be the most important election issue facing the nation.

Or, if voter disenfranchisement is not possible then voter fraud will be — especially since former President Donald Trump continues his efforts to discredit 2020’s election despite no evidence to the contrary.

But you’d be wrong! You would be wrong on both!

People are most annoyed by gerrymandering. This is when outlandish congressional and legislative districts are drawn for political reasons.

It was back in the time when redistricting or “gerrymandering” as Cillizza described it, would take place as usual by state legislators.

However, in the meantime, the Democrats have gotten the courts (Pennsylvania and North Carolina) involved in what was normally a legislative process, and as a result, gerrymandering has undergone a miraculous transformation in which it is no longer called “gerrymandering” because it wildly favors the Democrats as Cillizza happily gloated over on Thursday in “How Democrats may actually pull off a *major* redistricting upset.”

The consensus was, going into the year, that Republicans would greatly benefit from the decennial congressional drawing process, which creates districts and creates a friendly national map.

As states race to complete their House maps ahead of the fast approaching 2022 primary season. A new storyline emerged. Democrats may be able to break even, or gain an edge when all the lines have been completed across the nation.

Cillizza exclaims his delight at the turn of events. However, Cillizza fails to notice an ugly word that is completely missing from this story.

1) New York Democrats released a map of the congressional district that would include 19 Democrats and 8 Republicans, and could potentially make it a 22-2-4 split. The state is now losing one seat. According to David Wasserman, Cook Political Report House editor, it is the “largest single-state change in the country.”

2) Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, where Democrats hold a majority, took control of drawing the state’s lines, after the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled legislature deadlocked on a map that must reduce the state’s House delegation from 18 seats to 17 seats.

You would have been correct if you thought that “gerrymandering”, was the missing word. Redistricting happens when Republicans control redistricting according to Cillizza’s formula. However, redistricting favors Democrats no matter how wild it gets. It is still just “redistricting” without the suddenly taboo word g-word.