Political careerism shows no party lines

A bipartisan group of congressmen in California, led by Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village) and John T. Doolittle (R-Roseville), worried that they might actually stand for election. The FEC has allowed them to raise unlimited soft money to combat Gov. Schwartzengger's redistricting ballot initiative.

California's congressional and state legislative districts are perfect example of what is wrong with the current system. There are ZERO competitive races in California except those that are state-wide races. Every single district that was carved out by the state legislature-- either for themselves or their congressional delegation-- are hopelessly partisan such that the only campaigns occur when the incumbent dies/retires/resigns in scandal and there is a pitched primary fight. Otherwise, voters can and do mostly stay home. This is why our democracy is in danger, because of greedy folks like Congressmen Berman and Doolittle (aptly named if you ask me).

I don't know if I support the specifics of Prop. 77, or the way in which signatures were gathered, but I do approve of removing redistricting duties from state legislators or other partisan and/or elected officials.

The only good thing I can say about Gerrymandering is that one Rep. way back felt the need to come up with the Bill of Rights to win in his Federalist district. But back then, redistricting was a brute alchemy. Today, with decades of computerized voting totals and computer projections based on race, income, marital status, church attendance, etc. these hacks can virtually guarantee a 10 year term for a 2 year office in the House of "Representatives"