Mtt Damon opened Rounders with the classic admonition, “If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.” As we draw closer to the end of the decade, it’s advice Republicans may want to take to heart.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about Colorado Democrats’ progressive agenda in the aftermath of Proposition CC’s failure.
In particular, I noted the disparity between the actual percentage of votes Democrats received in state House elections and the disproportionally large percentage of state House seats they won due to gerrymandered districts.
To continue the Rounders metaphor, one of my readers thought he caught a “hanger” – a sleight of hand card cheat tell – and called me out on social media about Republicans benefiting from the same distortion across the nation.
And that analysis is absolutely right, I just didn’t have the column inches to get into it at the time and because that column related to Colorado Democrats.
In fact, across the country an Associated Press analysis demonstrated Republican gerrymandered districts “prevented deeper losses or helped them hold on to power” in congressional and state legislative races.
The historical context that created that advantage should provide ample warning for Republicans who have gambled big and gone “all-in” with a deeply unpopular president.
