Folks, this is my first attempt at a diary, so please be gentle :)
I need some serious "talk me down", as Rachel Maddow used to say. As happy as I was when the election results came in, I was puzzled as to how it was possible that Obama won by 2 or 3 points, yet we barely made a dent in the House.
It was later confirmed that the total votes across the nation for Dem House candidates were higher than for the GOP candidates. How come? The answer is simple: gerrymander, of course. It definitely worked to their advantage in many states, but in particular PA, WI, FL, OH, NC, GA, and others. Granted, we did some of it in CA, NY, etc, but overall the GOP used the perfect storm in 2010 to gerrymander so many more districts, that I'm now concerned they will have a structural advantage for a very long time, which would make winning the House very, very difficult.
And I think it gets even worse at the state level. I don't have any data, but it seems to me that the Legislatures they flipped in 2010 have become pretty much out of reach going forward, therefore making it almost impossible to regain them and re-district those states in a fairly manner.
I'm not a longtime observer of American politics, so my question for you more seasoned Dems is, historically, is this reversible? How long would that take? Or are we in for a very long GOP majority in the House?
Talk me down, please!
