I think it’s worth noting to whom exactly they gave the seat on the Appropriation Committee.
Rep. Jo Bonner, Republican, from the 1st congressional district of Alabama. He represents Mobile in the SW corner of the state. His district borders Mississippi and Florida. What’s the most interesting thing about his district?
It has a Cook Partisan Voting Index (what is that?) of R+12. This means that the district is eleven points more conservative than the national average.
Dave-o’s district is a D+2.
Hmmm… So instead of giving the choice seat to the Republican in the “slightly more liberal than average” seat, they gave it to the guy who doesn’t need the help.
Talk about a “fuck you” from the party.
To put that into context, Wasington’s 5th CD (with a R+7) is actually less conservative than the Alabama 1st.
I think the GOP is hunkering down, ready to ride out life in the minority.
Good catch Will!
Great post.
Why in hell would Steve Balmer and James Dobson and Bill Krystal all want to be in one party if that party is not in power?
For that matter, other than a brandname, does anyone really give a damn about the Republican party anymore?
Who is going to inherit Reagan’s mansion?
“I think the GOP is hunkering down, ready to ride out life in the minority.”
I think Republicans are objects in random orbits. The “party” is a mere formality, as they’re only interested in looking out for themselves. They don’t give a rat’s ass if another asteroid crashes into a moon.
Reagan??? wasn’t he that guy that secured a place in politics by ratting out his fellow actors during the McCarthy era, then campaigned for prez on a balanced budget and middle class tax cuts, then left us the largest deficit we’d ever had, and after raising taxes on the middle class? is that the Reagan they keep talking about? nawww can’t be.
By the way, the Wikipedia link says that the 1st CD in Alabama is R+12, not R+11.
It was interesting following your links, and also looking at the congressional districts in Alabama, and how heavily they are gerrymandered along racial lines.
Alabama has a 26.7% Black population and 7 congressional districts. A major portion of the state’s Black population is creatively drawn into the 7th CD, which is just north of the 1st CD that Jo Bonner is from. The 7th CD has 61.7% Black population, and is the only Black majority CD in Alabama. It is represented by Democrat Artur Davis, the only Black member of congress from Alabama.
The 1st CD, where Bonner hails from, is 28.0% Black. Alabama has five White Republican House members, and one White Democratic House member (who is a fairly conservative Democrat representing the 5th CD, which is R+6).
The 7th CD is drawn in a rather irregular way through certain counties, to maximize the Black population of the 7th CD, while increasing the White population of surrounding districts. For example, the 7th CD goes right through the heart of the Birmingham area in Jefferson County, including as many Black inner city neighborhoods as possible and leaving most White suburban neighborhoods for the surrounding 6th CD. On the southern end, Clarke and Monroe counties are divided between the 1st and 7th CD’s through some funny-shaped lines, designed to place most White voters in the 1st CD and most Black voters in the 7th CD.
The other result of this racial gerrymandering is to maximize the number of Republican House members from Alabama. Black voters in Alabama tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic, while White voters in Alabama tend to substantially prefer Republicans. By concentrating as many Black voters as possible into one district, this makes the remaining six districts pretty good territory for Republicans.
@4 Yeah, that would be the wingnut conception of a saint, all right.
@5 I thought R+11 was a rating for fiberglass insulation.
I spent quite a lot of time in Alabama in the early 90’s. It sure sounds like the place has gone to hell in a bucket since then.
Considering that the GOP has essentially descended from the Party of Lincoln into a stereotypical but accurate Southern (baptist) party, maybe we should just let the South secede again after we retake the White House and expand the majorities in Congress. Who needs ’em, anyway?
Dave Reichert can have a big “Fuck you” from me, too.
Richard:
Not that I’m in favor of gerrymandering, but a compelling case could be made that the reason for the odd boundary lines is to make sure that there was at least one district with a black majority. Much as we may wish that it were not so, even today race is a factor in elections.
It would probably have been possible (as had often happend in the past) to draw the boundary lines so that there would have been no districts that were not mostly white.
I’m not sure we should be automatically condemning the folks that drew up the boundaries in this case.
“And he is threatening to postpone his trip to Africa in order to sit in a corner and pout”
I think the House should do absolutely nothing while he holds his breath and turns blue.
oops, posted in wrong thread
Man, it’s hard to manipulate a mouse with furry paws …
Dave’s been an uneven campaigner from the get-go.
He’s lazy about fund raising, and he doesn’t seem to get that Congressional incumbency is little more than a continuous campaign swing. You get the impression that Reichert doesn’t even care about being in Congress all that much.
I think the leadership would rather bet on a horse that is willing to run. And that probably needs to be emphasized more than ever this year.