Update: Senator Long does some backtracking, after stepping in it with initial flogging of the ideas. I need to do some digging, to really get at the meat of Todd's proposal, but in the interest of getting all our readers thinking, here's the website and a anti-Sec of State article first.
Rethinking Redistricting
Rokita's rather ridiculous redistricting
by Scott Fluhr, a GOP Chair in Southern Indiana and regular writer on Hoosier Access and Hoosier Pundit.
My article on Hoosier Access this morning:
I just know this post will cause some ulcers, but I was struck with a though when catching up on Indianapolis news this morning. Here are the posts that started me off: Rokita’s Rather Ridiculous Redistricting Proposal and Rethinking Redistricting the website produced by Secretary of State Rokita.
After a cursory overview, I have to say in general I agree with Todd’s suggestions. I might have favored private money being used in the research and marketing, as the Kernan Shephard folks did. I would find the “illegalality” of thinking about politics to be too strong, since last I checked we are all still granted the right to think.
But all in all, each Indiana Senate seat should feature two House seats in the same geographic bounds. All in all, population should be the guide and not voter vault. All in all, the existing county lines are a much better boundary than gerrymandered messes to give one side or the other a couple extra votes.
Sorry Scott, I felt your article didn’t give the proposal its fair shake. Perhaps a problem with Todd, or his possible run for Governor? This effort on the surface looks surprisingly like a Daniels move, bringing the best of common sense and transparency and putting it on the table. To be frank, I’m still for Becky as Governor, if she wants it … but this kind of forward thinking on Todd’s part shows he’s just the man for Lugar’s Senate seat we need, if only that resignation were forthcoming.
