Cribbing from Kos who is cribbing from Roll Call:
Faced with the prospect of Republicans redrawing Congressional lines in a third state since the initial 2001 round of redistricting ended, a faction of national Democrats is urging an aggressive strategy aimed at striking back at Republican House Members...
"The only way to stop them from doing this is to make them pay a price for it somewhere else," said a longtime House strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Democrats believe their best opportunities lie in Illinois, New Mexico and Louisiana, where Democrats have seized control of all the levers of state government in those states since the 2001 reapportionment and redistricting.
Democratic Govs. Rod Blagojevich (Ill.) and Bill Richardson (N.M.) as well as high-ranking Louisiana elected officials have been contacted by members of House leadership since the Georgia legislature began their re-redistricting.
"Some of us who believe Georgia is going to happen think that it will help us strategically, to motivate some governors that weren't interested in doing it to help us," said one source who works closely with House Democrats.
At least a few D.C.-based Republicans privately acknowledge they are concerned about the possibility of Democratic retribution over the maneuvers in Georgia, but are not in a position to change the situation...
MyDD has more:
When the lines were initially drawn in 2001, it was the result of a bipartisan compromise in the state Legislature, which at the time had split control; Republicans had a majority in the state Senate and Democrats had a majority in the state House. The governor was a Republican.
The plan, which had to account for the state's loss of a seat in reapportionment, aimed to protect incumbents of both parties; the casualty was Democratic Rep. David Phelps who was forced into a Member versus Member race against Rep. John Shimkus (R) in a southern Illinois district that favored the GOP.
Democrats believe that a re-opening of the Illinois lines could yield at least two seats; one could be carved out of the suburbs surrounding Chicago, which are currently represented entirely by Republicans including House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
Another gain could come in southern Illinois in areas Phelps represented prior to the redistricting of 2001. Much of the territory Shimkus now represents was held by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin during his fourteen years in the House.
When asked whether Illinois Democrats should entertain the possibility of redrawing the state's districts, Durbin said: "Talk to Rahm Emanuel."
Who, as we know, has been known to mail dead fish a la Corleone.
MyDD adds "Personally, I like the idea of pushing Henry Hyde and Dennis Hastert into the same district."
The Perpetual Campaign is now taken to the next level. The Perpetual Gerrymander may be here to stay, at least until some national reform happens...
Politics
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