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Originally Posted by scottytheoneand
I think that even if Clinton were president right now the Democrats would be doing almost NOTHING to stop GOP voter suppression. FTR Obama did virtually NOTHING to stop this crap over the past 8 years. The leadership of the Democratic party in most States and in DC is doing almost nothing.
There are a few states where Activists have started to fight back, like North Carolina. But that's been done by people like Reverend Doctor William Barber II, not the Democratic party leadership. There's been legal fights against it in Wisconsin, again without leadership from the democratic party. The propositions that took away districting from the legislature in California and Arizona were run independently from the States democratic parties.
If Democrats don't put this at the top of their to do list they're going to be out of power forever. Not because they don't have the support of the majority of voters. They do. But because the elections, national and local, are rigged by Republicans.
Since november i've not heard a single Democrat publicly talk about gerrymandering. If they don't do it soon they'll fail to win a congressional majority in 2018 and 2020 and all we'll hear again after those elections is that they're out of touch.
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I agree with all of this. While liberals grew complacent under Obama's comforting watch, the GOP went into overdrive to take local government by force. It makes sense, because the GOP was teetering towards destruction in 2008-2010, so ramping up gerrymandering and voter restrictions was a struggle for survival. The Democrats did not take them seriously and were distracted by a lot of bullshit, like turning on themselves like fucking morons and allowing the GOP to make the ACA into the defining domestic issue of the Obama presidency. Now a party which was on death's door 8 years ago has strong-armed its way back into control by channeling power unduly into the communities of their culturally homogeneous and resentful base. By the raw numbers of people, America is a decidedly liberal country, and it's only going to keep moving to the left as young people come of voting age and Hispanic communities continue to grow. But the GOP has essentially built an affirmative action machine for itself.
I still believe you can't fight demographic destiny, and the white supremacy angle will not survive forever. Trump's America is still shrinking, and Obama's America is still growing. But right now the Democrats are in the worst position they have been in since the Civil War... which is insane, because as you said, a decisive majority of Americans are liberal and support Democratic positions over Republican ones. The Dems are in for a very bad time over the next few years. The real danger isn't 2018 though, it's the 2020 census. Unfortunately at this point the Dems can't do much to fight gerrymandering I'm afraid. It will be up to the Supreme Court to hear a case on ending legislative control of redistricting. This is possible, as they heard a case recently which expanded the right of states to cut the legislatures out of redistricting, and some have guessed this might be a portent of the Court's willingness to examine the constitutionality of the entire practice. But if in 2020 nothing has been done to undo the gerrymandering, the Dems are going to be on the defensive majorly for the next decade.