There is time for election rhetoric and a time to get things done. People need to understand that if anything is to be done in politics, a dose of compromise is needed. If a politician says one thing to get elected, and then compromises once in office, he becomes a liar in the eyes of those who supported him in the election. This is going to happen to Mike Lee. If those elected for the first time this year are unwilling to compromise, they will go down as the biggest do nothing Congress is history and we are bound to see the same type of uprising against them that we saw for them this year either way. It is almost a no-win scenario. And people wonder why good people do not run for office.
Even though I have not been blogging, I have been busy. Here is my simple proposal for the congressional district boundaries in Utah after the results of the 2010 census are released. It is as simple as I think it can be. You can not divide Utah in four without splitting Salt Lake County. And this may look gerrymandered, it is not. Other than Salt Lake County, no other county in the state is split. No cities will be split either. For clarification, the first district is Green, and it includes the home of current first district congressman, Rob Bishop who lives in Box Elder County. The second district is blue and includes the home of current second district congressman Jim Matheson who lives in the East Side of Salt Lake County. The third district is violet, and it includes the home of current congressman Jason Chaffetz who lives in Utah County.
The split in Salt Lake County is roughly the Jordan River. Communities mostly west of the Jordan River, like West Valley would be in the new 4th district while communities mostly east of the river, like Salt Lake City would be in the 2nd district.
You may also say that there is not one of the four districts that a Democrat has a guaranteed win. However, a Democrat friend of mine told me he would rather have a chance to win all four than to have all of the party strength in one district. Otherwise, you would find a way to put Carbon County and Summit County in the second district. He gets his wish by having Summit and Carbon Counties with Utah County in the third district. You put the West Valley City with Davis County to give the dems another shot. Perhaps a slim shot at best, but a shot. And you give Matheson's district a challenge by pairing liberal-leaning Salt Lake City with the more conservative cities of Sandy and Draper. Some dems would complain, but again what would you rather have?
One weakness in this theory is that you still have one district that may be a GOP district forever, the first.
What will our legislature do? Probably something not very similar to this, but they will look like they are throwing the Democrats a bone by giving then the second district, by protecting Jim Matheson's seat. But in doing so they make it impossible for the Democrats to win in the other three districts. The democrats in the state will fall for it hook line and sinker. You will likely see Summit and Carbon counties put in the second district, and portions of southeast Salt Lake County put into the third district. You will see them put West Valley City in the second district and the Avenues and Federal Heights put into the fourth district. This would be an unfortunate turn of events because it complicates the campaigning process for both political parties and it will be more costly for candidates of all parties. This plan will make campaigning in one congressional district "on the cheap" because it is relatively small.
One more benefit to this plan. Davis and Weber Counties are in separate districts. That is for a reason. Hill Air Force Base sits on the border of Davis and Weber Counties. We would have two members of our house delegation that have a vested interest in what happens at the base. It will help keep this vital economic engine churning.
Because Utah is so heavily urbanized, especially in the Wasatch Front, the process of defining congressional boundaries is difficult. The Legislature should keep these boundaries as simple as possible. Utah is so highly republican that no matter how the boundaries are drawn, 3 of the four districts will be represented by the GOP. This plan is simple, people will know who represents them in congress and it will save money.
If you like my plan, please let your state senator and representative know. What have they come up with...check out this more recent link.
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