Is Gerrymandering affecting you?

[BitterPill]

You are free to believe what you wish. One does not need to be hard right to desire less government. My paternal grandfather was once asked who was his favorite President. Without hesitation he answered: Calvin Coolidge. Why? He explained that for two hours every day Calvin Coolidge took a nap, and therefore for two hours every day he did nothing to harm the country. You can't say that about any other President, he concluded. And that was that.

Thanks for awarding me the privilege of thinking what I like, and I like your anecdote. I agree Coolidge was a particularly ineffective president.

 

[ThoughtEx.]

Gerrymandering was not responsible for President Obama's election. House districts have nothing to do with the Electoral College.

Try watching the video, Obama held an office before President.

 

[Southern Dad]

Try watching the video, Obama held an office before President.

Yes. Yes, he did. He was a Senator. In case you didn't know it Senators represent an entire state. Again, FAIL. There is no gerrymandering when it comes to Senate seats. They represent the entire state.

 

[The Mark]

I think the largest obstacle to free elections today is the practice of Gerrymandering. Incumbent Gerrymandering more so than Party. Party is still bad though. A lot of responsibility for the state of the Union is laid at the office of the President. But in truth it is Congress who decides most issues. Here is an hour long video on Gerrymandering courtesy of endgerrymandering.com*snip for brevity*

I've encountered what I think is gerrymandering in the last decade.

I originally lived in PA 19th District, but in the 2010 census, PA lost a congressional seat, and they renamed it.
PA 19th District 2005-2013:

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In 2013, the district was renamed and redrawn into the PA 4th District:

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During that redrawing, the area I live in was taken from the now PA 4th District and connected to PA 11th District by extending that district across the state.
Included was the largest nearby town/suburban area, Carlisle.
PA District 11 from 2005-2013:

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PA District 11 as redrawn in 2012 and implemented in 2013:

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I do not know the reasons for this. But clearly they wanted the Town/suburban area of Carlisle to be part of PA District 11, rather than PA District 4.

Speculation:
They wanted the republican voters in the Carlisle area to pull District 11 more to the right, because PA District 4 has been voting Republican consistently since 1967, and that way they would have 2 Republican House members instead of one.

I say this because PA District 11 voted Dem for 30 years prior to the 2010 election, and has been held by a Republican since that time.

Edit: Not entirely sure what area the Carlisle and suburbs area cover, they might have split it between 4th and 11th districts.

Edit 2: I'm mainly upset because that makes this guy my representative:

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