The Note: The Districts of the United States of America
— -- WASHINGTON, June 28
People who think long-term in politics will be watching the Supreme Court today where a decision could come in the consolidated Texas redistricting cases.
If the Supreme Court declines to invalidate the Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) today and affirms the principles of partisan gerrymandering and mid-decade redistricting, DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Democratic strategist Howard Wolfson have speculated in the pages of Roll Call and the Wall Street Journal in recent days that the party might employ DeLay's tactics in states where Democrats are expected to control the governorship and the state legislature after November.
DCCC spokesgal Sarah Feinberg tells ABC News that the campaign arm of House Democrats is focused on November. She adds, however, that "if the Supreme Court says the Tom DeLay Texas map is OK, I think the attitude will be that mid-decade redistricting done in a gerrymandered and unfair way is distasteful, but apparently legal, according to the highest court in the land. And I can't imagine why at that point only Republicans would engage in it."
Such a move on the part of Democrats won't come without controversy. Many high-profile Democrats are on the record denouncing DeLay's tactics; Republicans could also export the tactic; and squeezing more Democratic-leaning districts out of particular states might require splitting minority voters into multiple districts, a move which could run afoul of the Voting Rights Act, as Michael Carvin, a Republican lawyer involved in the Texas case, recently told the Journal.
President Bush travels to St. Louis, MO today where he will meet with veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan at a VFW post before heading to a 500-person fundraiser for Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) that will raise $1 million. (The money will be split 50-50 by Talent campaign and state party). The President returns to Washington, DC later this evening. Sen. Talent is facing a stiff challenge to his re-election from Democrat Claire McCaskill, in a race that is part of any Democratic equation for taking control of the Senate.
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