Politicians doing stuff to help themselves. Not right but not surprising..... neither party is exempt from playing this game. At the end of the day, those that make it to the top are the Trumps, Clinton's and Booker's and Bush's of the world........ they only care about themselves.
Yes and no. Both parties do it for sure, but the benefits earned have been way more in favor of republicans. We already know how voter ID laws favor republicans, and we have seen in the passed 20 years the popular vote going liberal but the electoral college favoring the republican, but we can also see that gerrymandering has also done more for them than the dems too. At the end of the day, you can say "well, republicans are just better at playing the game than the dems are". While that might be true it opens the door to the philosophy that the dems are forced to play the game a little, purely because republicans are. It's like the steroid crisis in baseball. Hitters take 'roids, so pitchers have to take them too to catch up. Look, if you name a republican who wants to clean this up, actually wants to improve voter efficacy and belief in democracy I will gladly vote for him or her. The party as of late has been more focused on restricting access, and above all reducing faith in voting for underrepresented groups while distressing minorities.
Stop stop stop stop There is no equivalency here. The Democrats are a functioning party with good intentions, whose policy positions you may or may not agree with. The Republicans are a hostile entity seeking to undermine Democracy and the rule of law. This is in no way shape or form, "oh well both sides do it"
I wouldn't go as far as to say either party has purely good or bad intentions. The issue is, like any debate in the modern era, we take a viewpoint of "both sides do it" or "both candidates are bad" or "it won't fix the problem today" and then go back to our corners. That's where the divide stands. There are gradations, and those gradations could make all the difference. Again, would you like the common cold or brain cancer? Both show signs of you being sick. Stop voting for brain cancer and settle for the necessary evil of the common cold once and a while. It's annoying and imperfect but it's better than the alternative.
There is NO question that the Republicans have exploited gerrymandering better than the democrats, it is really the only way they have been competitive in the House for some time now because of demographics. Also I am not saying it is acceptable or right and the party primarily responsible should be held responsible. As far as democrat versus republican, the parties change over time just like people change. Many Republicans in the South would have been Democrats 60 years ago........ so the tradition attached to the names of the parties really means little........ party of Lincoln was significant in 1870...... Jacksonian meant something 180 years ago.
Oh definitely. The party of Lincoln that supports states rights, went to war because said President believed that the federal government could supersede said state's rights. They wouldn't recognize the republicans of today in any way. If I insinuated that I believed you were advocating gerrymandering and such I apologize. That wasn't my intention. Rather I just believe there is more rule breaking on that side than the other. But you are correct, it is 100% fluxional. That's why when people look at Bill Clinton as a democrat I almost laugh. He was a moderate, and I would argue Hillary 30 years ago could run on a republican platform. Again, gradations are important.
