Republicans Looking For a Revolution

You have to, and I mean this, give credit to the Republicans. They much moreso than the Democrats have grasped that controlling Government at the state level can lead to changes that can affect the balance of power nationally.

In the years since the 2010 elections we have heard over and over about the horror stories, if your a Democrat, that have taken place in states like Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and sadly Maine with the Republican controlled legislatures working in concert with Republican Governor. Without going into long detail it is safe to say that unions, education, and voting rights have all taken a hit.

Since the results of the November Presidential election made them aware that they are headed into a demographic pit the Republicans have begun floating ideas that are exceptional in how far they go. We in Maine over the last couple of election cycles have been made aware that we distribute our electoral college votes in an odd way, namely rather than winner take all by state, the winner of each Congressional district can gain an electoral vote even if they do not win the state as a whole. With the wide demographic split between our first and second district it has been thought that perhaps this split would occur. It has not yet, however, come to pass.

Tired of losing on a national level we are now hearing rumblings in states like Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan and Ohio of a plan to change how their electoral college votes are distributed. Simply put they would like to have their votes given out as a result of each Congressional districts vote tallies. While this might seem an acceptable idea one must understand that Congressional districts, everywhere not just in these states, have become a gerrymandered mess. When Republicans won control of these states in 2010 they went even further than before in redistricting plans to make sure they held their majority. I suspect Democrats too would have done so had they thought of it but the truth is it Republicans who are better at knowing how to win and then how to rule with a dagger.

What does it all mean. The similarities in all of the state mentioned are that they are state's that the Democrats consistently win in National elections but more often than not, as a result of gerrymandering, lose at the state level. If, for example, the methodology that these states are proposing were in place at this last election Mitt Romney would have won a significant victory. He would, however, have lost by over five million votes. With the divisive nature of this country, with talks of state's seceding and the overall climate of general hatred between the right and the left do we really think that people would stand still for a result such as that.

Republicans can easily win elections and become a force on the National level, all they really have to do is moderate some views that all but their most extreme element know are crazy and move forward. If, however, they truly intend to move forward in these movies that have the intent to do nothing but thwart the views of the majority and in effect rule this country in almost apartheid way then I do fear the results. I do fear that we might drift into an era where clashes in the streets, and open violence becomes a way of life.

It is not a good thought and I hope and pray that those on the right will hold back their extremists, realizing that their future success will not come as a result of gimmicks but by following their hero Ronald Reagan's " big tent" inclusiveness.