Obama disses GOPers

If there were any doubts about how Republicans have benefited from the political chicanery involved in the drawing of congressional boundaries, the seating chart of members of the U.S. House by party affiliation at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address drove home the point.

As President Barack Obama addressed the joint session of Congress for the last time, he could not help but see how the GOP has rewarded itself from the redistricting that followed the 2010 national population census.

There were more members of Congress who sat on their hands – those would be Republicans – compared with the number of lawmakers – Democrats – who gave him standing ovations at various times during the hour-long speech.

The GOP has a strong majority in the House of Representatives, which was evident in the demeanor of Speaker Paul Ryan, who was seated behind the president. His facial expressions seemed to reflect the thought that Obama was an unwelcomed guest.

But, the president, who has nothing to lose given that he will be leaving office in January 2017, wasn’t about to be intimidated by the GOPers.

Indeed, he went for the jugular.

“There are a whole lot of folks in this chamber, good people who would like to see more cooperation, would like to see a more elevated debate in Washington, but feel trapped by the imperatives of getting elected, by the noise coming out of your base. I know; you’ve told me. It’s the worst-kept secret in Washington. And a lot of you aren’t enjoying being trapped in that kind of rancor.

“But that means if we want a better politics – and I’m addressing the American people now – if we want a better politics, it’s not enough just to change a congressman or change a senator or even change a president. We have to change the system to reflect our better selves. I think we’ve got to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around. Let a bipartisan group do it.”

Underlying message

In its rawest form, here’s what the president seemed to be saying to the Republican majority in the House: A goodly number of you are here not because you are the best and brightest, or are dedicated public servants but because your governors and legislatures drew congressional boundaries that guaranteed the election of Republicans.

It wasn’t clear, watching the cameras pan the House chamber, who was squirming the most, but there can be no doubt that Republican members of the Ohio delegation in the House of Representatives had to have been feeling the heat. Why?

Consider this: Ohio is a purple state in which most voters backed Democrats in the 2012 presidential and U.S. Senate elections. And yet, 12 of the 16-member delegation in the U.S. House are Republicans.

In 2012, with the Ohio General Assembly and the governor’s office in GOP hands, the desire by party leaders to stack the deck became the guiding principle. A close look at the boundaries and population distribution make clear that Republican candidates in most of the districts have a distinct advantage.

Hence, gerrymandered districts guarantee Republicans a majority in the congressional delegation until new lines are drawn after the 2020 national population census.

And if you think that it’s only the Democrats, led by President Obama, who see the need for a major change in the way congressional district boundaries are drawn, consider this comment:

“I support redistricting reform dramatically. This will be something I’m going to do, whether I’m elected president or whether I’m here. … I think we need to eliminate gerrymandering. We’ve got to figure a way to do it. We’ve got to have more competitive districts. That to me is what’s good for the state of Ohio and what’s good for the country.”

The speaker, believe it or not, was Ohio’s Republican governor, John R. Kasich, who was elected in 2014 to a second term in a landslide, and who is seeking the Republican nomination for president.

Kasich has emerged as one of the more thoughtful and level-headed candidates in the crowded GOP presidential race, and while he has yet to break into the top tier, he has garnered the attention of the national media because of his refusal to wallow in the political muck.

Kasich’s support for a non-partisan approach to creating congressional districts in Ohio – voters embraced such a system in the drawing of legislative district lines – puts him at odds with many of his party’s movers and shakers.

But the fact that Ohio has one Republican and one Democratic U.S. senator makes it clear that voters believe in political balance.

Democratic President Obama and Republican Gov. Kasich are on the same page when it comes to establishing congressional districts that reflect the political sentiments of the country.

That’s an important start.