Virginia Democrats push gerrymander scheme, Trump should eye retrocession
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If you’re proud of something, you want people to see it. That’s why Virginia Democrats are asking Old Dominion residents to vote for the redistricting plan without allowing their proposed map to be printed on ballots.
But that’s no surprise: The mid-decade redistricting proposal is an obscene gerrymander that would destroy all but one GOP-leaning congressional district in the state. And of course they claim that this is done in the name of “democracy”.
This fraudulent power play attempts to turn the congressional representation of a purple state into nearly as blue as Massachusetts. It disenfranchises nearly half of the Commonwealth (Virginia gets 51.8% to 46.6% for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024). The proposed districts range from overpopulated blue areas to rural red areas. Federal government employees in Arlington and Fairfax will essentially dictate that farmers and tradesmen be represented in Congress 100 miles away.
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Local publications were flooded with ads touting this redistricting plan as a charitable attempt to save democracy and “free and fair elections.” One of the ubiquitous ads sees former President Barack Obama continuing the tradition of honesty exemplified by his infamous declaration that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” Now there is the hollow promise that “if you love your district, you can keep your district” and that in 2030 Virginia will return to an orderly redistricting process.
A couple voted against a referendum that would change the Virginia Congressional map in their SUV. (Fox News Digital)
The materials provided to the grassroots are a bit more transparent than the kinds of false appeals to democracy made by former presidents, governors, and other scheming progressives. Yard signs supporting the initiative make its purpose much clearer and call on voters to “fight back” against MAGA.
WHILE THE COURT APPROVES THE REDISTRIBUTION OF HIGH AMOUNT OF VOTES, THE HOUSE BATTLE CONTINUES IN VIRGINIA
It’s clear to anyone paying attention that the Virginia gerrymander, or Virgerrymander, is nothing more than an effort to stack the deck in favor of Democrats to weaken President Donald Trump, rather than an effort to “restore justice” or “level the playing field.”
So what can the president and his allies do? In addition to motivating Virginia residents to oppose this power grab, Trump has another tool he can use to “fight back,” to borrow his supporters’ phrase. He could have fought fire with fire and opted for another kind of redistricting.
In 1790, Virginia and Maryland each granted five square miles of land to the Federal government to create a district for a new national capital. This Virginia land remained part of the District of Columbia until ceded to the Commonwealth in 1847. The shameful cause of this setback was the preservation of slavery in Virginia when the Territory was abolished.
This issue became moot after the Union defeated in the Civil War the progenitors of this current effort to rig elections and resist elected federal leadership. Other presidents, including William Howard Taft, thought the revocation was unconstitutional and wanted to reclaim the land for the District, but the Supreme Court was never asked to rule on the issue.
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President Trump could issue an executive order declaring the slavery-motivated setback unconstitutional, triggering certain legal actions and allowing the courts to make a final decision on whether Arlington County and the City of Alexandria actually belong to the District of Columbia.
This Order would have better legal footing than many of President Joe Biden’s most egregious orders, such as those imposing eviction moratoriums or forgiving billions of dollars in student debt with the stroke of the (automatic) pen. As one of the deepest blue districts in the Commonwealth and the country, filled with federal government employees, residents should feel right at home as part of D.C.
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In an ad urging voters to support his party’s gerrymandering plan, Spanberger calls it “an extraordinary moment.” Like that. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures; these measures are legal and ethical, unlike the “Virgerrymander.”
If Virginia Democrats’ redistricting is successful, President Trump should redistrict Virginia. This will not only neutralize a move by the president’s political rivals to turn Congress against him — thus protecting him from another false impeachment — but most importantly, it will save large numbers of red Virginians from having their votes canceled by deep blue liberals in adjacent D.C.
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