Throw the Punch First

and Throw it Harder

Beto O’Rourke is a fighter. Democrats need more fighters. There is no time to lose.
”Democrats need to worry more about getting back into power than being right!”

Beto O’Rourke is calling upon every state to tackle redistricting aggressively. Gerrymandering is an artificial construction of a voting district to benefit a particular party. Both parties have done it. It is wrong.
It is a power struggle we have been losing.

This short video is a good explainer:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/wonkblog/gerrymandering-explained/2016/04/21/e447f5c2-07fe-11e6-bfed-ef65dff5970d_video.html

Republicans have been experts at this effort to disenfranchise voters they don’t like. That’s how we arrived at a House of Representatives that DOES NOT represent the views of a large majority of Americans. Otherwise, how could a Congress pass an unpopular bill that butchers programs that feed and care for millions of Americans?

Trite but true: Democrats keep bringing a knife to a gunfight. And then we argue about why we lost. Democrats crow about funding from small donors and how we should eschew big donors. Idealism is nice. But that’s using a pen knife against an AR-15. Being idealistic and “right” has not worked.

Partisan control of congressional redistricting after the 2020 elections, with the number of U.S. House seats each state will receive.

Blue - Democratic control

Red - Republican control

Yellow - Split or bipartisan control

Green - Independent redistricting commission

Grey - No redistricting necessary

Example: Texas Party Registration Statistics

• Total Registered Voters: 17,323,617

• Democrats: 8,054,976 (46.50%)

• Republicans: 6,574,201 (37.95%)

• Third Party/Other: 0 (0.00%)

• Unaffiliated: 2,694,440 (15.55%)
  
  12 of the 38 Texas Members of the House of Representatives are Democrats
  That is 32% and yet 46% of Texas voters are Democrats.

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Once Democrats have ousted the MAGA Nazis, we can work on reforming the way districts are drawn. We can pass election laws that favor the average citizen and reduce the influence of big money. Until then we need to pull out all the legal stops and do battle - to win the elections - not just some moral argument.

And here is a clip from 6 days ago. If you enjoy listening to a Democrat with fire in his belly who wants to go toe to toe with the Fascists, watch this interview as well. Guess what? He speaks clearly, in complete sentences that make sense - with sincere passion.

https://independentvoterproject.org/voter-stats/tx

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Credit for finding this profile of Beto O’Rourke goes to my brilliant wife who also cooked this wonderful eggplant parmesan.

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