| There's an obvious and a less obvious lesson to be learned from NY-9 about independent, non-partisan redistrict. And it's worth learning.
Of course the obvious lesson is that the politics of legislature controlled redistricting leads to stupid gamesmanship. I still don't think Weprin was a bad candidate on paper, but I also tend to agree that Rory Lancman would have been a better candidate. Lancman never had a chance though, because Joe Crowley and New York Democrats in general needed a sacrifical lamb who could compete in the district and then ride into the night as NY-9 was dismantled by the map makers. Weprin fit the bill.
This is only a problem when politicians draw the districts. Independent, non-partisan redistricting doesn't take into account factors like seniority or which district is easier to cut. Independent redistricting would draw 27 districts on the basis of geography, continguity, compactness, VRA concerns, and a host of other factors other than cushiness for incumbents. And so if we had independent redistricting in the first place, the entire paradigm would have been different.
The less obvious lesson is just as, if not more important. I couldn't help but notice a lot of bloggers commenting on the string of special election losses by members of the Assembly. Weprin, Corwin, Scozzafava, and Tedisco. This led some to conclude that people who go to Albany and work in the Assembly can't win Congressional races. Let's forget that a whole heck of a lot of current and former Congressional members are former members of the Assembly. The fact that these four recent losers were all members of the Assembly isn't causation but it is correlation.
The better response about these four is that none of them had ever won a competitive campaign before. Their experience at real campaigning necessary to win tough special elections was non-existent. Weprin may have run for City Comptroller, but he did so poorly and unsuccessfully. All four of them simply weren't equipped for the rigors of a time-crunch competitive campaign.
And part of the reason is because their districts are gerrymandered to be uncompetitive, like almost every district in the state.
If we had real competitive districts, which we're more likely to get from independent redistricting, then candidates would actually earn their victories from the voters. That would give us politicians who understand how to talk to voters and better represent themselves and their constituents. And for our purposes, it would give us better candidates equipped to run for higher office, as opposed to people like David Weprin (i.e. nice guys and decent legislators but ill-equipped to run and win a serious, competitive campaign).
Mark down another notch in the belt of independent redistricting; better candidates, better legislators, heck, it's just better democracy. |
