Judges make best out of bad choices
There wasn’t a right answer to pick. Only a better choice, the lesser of two evils so to speak, and a federal three-judge panel made it on Tuesday. The same panel that struck down Pennsylvania’s congressional redistricting law stayed its decision. This means the primary will go off as scheduled May 21. This also means that Republicans get their way in shoving a decidedly skewed redistricting map down the throats of every Pennsylvania voter for at least the next two years. The GOP drew the faulted boundaries with such a flair for gerrymandering that the court earlier this month reasoned it violated sound election law. The court ordered a new map.
Faced with very little time, the GOP shifted tens of thousands of voters into new districts, splitting even more precincts but keeping their statistical edge to gain a majority in the state’s congressional delegation. The new map, as impossible as it seems, is even more unacceptable than the former. As House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese said it is nothing more than an attempt to disguise a corpse by smearing it with rouge.
The GOP must have known it wouldn’t fly in time, even though its leaders had the audacity to approve it and place it before the court. Still they had another political card to play. They could just delay the primary, and drag out the costly escalating mudslinging between the Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls and allow their own chosen son to sit tightly on his war chest for as long as possible.
The state Democrats, in the interest of the governor’s race, took the tactic that it was in the party’s best interest to keep the primary on May 21 even though that means sacrificing loyal Democratic congressman who served the party well. Perhaps they are concocting wild visions of capturing the governor’s mansion along with a majority in the Senate or House so that they can conquer the map and redraw it their way. Keep dreaming.
In the meantime, the court had to decide what was in the best interest of the state’s voters. There wasn’t a right answer to correct this mess. But there was one that would keep some continuity to the voting process, and one that would keep costs down. Considering those factors the only reasonable decision was one that kept the primary on schedule.