I talked to a Democratic member of Congress recently who told me how both Democrats and Republicans were still surprised by the outcome of the recent election. Really? It seems as if Republicans shouldn’t have been that surprised. The predicate of the election, the drawing of congressional districts, the resulting increase in polarization, the control of state houses, state legislatures, and secretaries of state that control the election process and conduct are all areas the GOP has been trying to control and manipulate for years. They’ve taken the practice of gerrymandering to levels never before seen. As a result, the insular nature of certain districts not only makes for a secure GOP majority in Congress, but it also closes off some of those districts from any kind of real transparency or scrutiny.
Salon editor-in-chief, David Daley, saw this coming. He wrote about it in his recent book, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America’s Democracy But perhaps even he didn’t see it playing out in quite this way.
My WhoWhatWhy.org conversation with David Daley:
