We’re Just Getting Warmed Up

Sixteen survivors of a plane crash huddle together in the freezing Andes. One, who has just listened to their radio, says to the others, “I got something to tell you - good news - they called off the search.” Incredulous, the other survivors ask how this could possibly be good news. He replies, “because it means we're going to get out of here on our own.”

They did. And so shall we.

If you, like so many of us, hoped the Supreme Court would save us from the most blatantly gerrymandered congressional districts in the nation, then it is time to stop waiting to be rescued, and time to start taking action.

When the current congressional map was passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2011, Republicans held three fewer seats in the state senate than they do now, and Martin O’Malley was governor. Now Larry Hogan is governor, and instead of needing votes from seven Democratic senators to sustain the veto, now we only need four.

And the Democrats readily admit that gerrymandering is wrong – in theory! House Speaker Adrienne Jones said she was “disappointed that the Supreme Court didn’t offer a national solution to what is clearly a national problem.”[1]Maryland Senate President Mike Miller and U.S. Representative David Trone agree, calling for a “national standard” as they attempt to have their cake and eat it too.

We will remind the Democrats in the Maryland General Assembly that they are not the representatives of the DNC; they represent us, the people of Maryland, and 73 percent of us want fair congressional districts.[2]

Thank God for Governor Hogan; he is the perfect governor to fight this battle. Our weapon is shame, and Governor Hogan has developed a talent for shaming moderate Democrats from joining in the worst excesses of progressive liberalism.

And if the 29 Democrat senators needed to override a veto are immune to shame, we will do what we did in 2012: put a referendum on the 2022 general election ballot. With public awareness so much higher now, and with a popular Republican governor to spread the word, this time we will win it!

Let’s roll!

[1]https://www.wbal.com/article/397027/21/supreme-court-throws-out-challenge-to-marylands-congressional-map-blocks-census-query

[2]https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-creates-emergency-commission-to-deal-with-embarassment-of-gerrymandered-congressional-districts/2018/11/26/0ca7dc96-f193-11e8-aeea-b85fd44449f5_story.html?utm_term=.4e42b70c8552