Hello Daily Kos! For those who haven’t had a chance to virtually meet me, my name is Clint Curtis and I’m running for Congress against the notorious Tom Feeney in Florida’s 24 district. What few people know is that I used to work for my opponent. And one of the loosely guarded secrets of his success was to create a district specifically designed to help him and his nearby Republican friends get elected and remain in office. It’s an old tactic, but it’s every bit as effective today as it was a century ago. In fact because of pinpoint census and voter data, together with precision computer analysis, districts can now be gerrymandered to a degree that produces far greater impact than ever before possible. But there’s a trade off we can take advantage of. By increasing the number of districts once judged as safe for the GOP, the total Cook index margins have been reduced. Now, because of the collapse of the Republican Party, we can take them all.
When it comes to Election 2008, the 24th, and surrounding districts, I think it’s fair to say I’m probably a decent strategist: I’m the software engineer that designed them. That’s just one good reason why I’m uniquely positioned to beat Tom Feeney. Join me below and I’ll explain a bit about what Feeney has put in place here, and how we can exploit the systemic cracks now popping up in it for the benefit of several local seats, all currently held by some of the worst lawmakers the GOP has to offer.
As a programmer, I developed a program that could analyze the voter registration data and loop particular target groups. This allows for isolation of political voting lines. Other criteria such as minority can also isolate voting group such as minority neighborhoods to clump those voting blocks together.
By doing this the purpose is to build a super district in as widley dispersed areas as possible by combining the voting groups as much as possible. In doing this the party that you wish to reduce in number actually ends up with a district with huge advantages in numbers while leaving the remaining district with a slight advantage of the party you favor but being greater in number. This will generate districts where minority voters and the party you want to disadvantage has a super majority 70-80 percent would be a great target. While your party's majority will be only 3-9 points, you will have four times as many districts.
End result, Florida which has 600,000 more Democrats than Republicans has only 33% of the gerrymandered districts with a democratic voting advantage.
I suppose it’s poetic justice that this strategy leaves weak Republican districts that are now vulnerable for the GOP.
By now most people know my views. I’m a working class, progressive democrat who will fight for progressive values and stand up to Republican intimidation.
On my first diary two months ago I promised I would never ask for a nickel from you until such time as I felt I had earned it, or until such time as your hard earned money would make a difference. I feel that time is here.
Please, consider a modest investment in my fight against Tom Feeney and our collective future by contributing Here.
If you happen to live in the Brevard, Volusia, Orange, or Seminole Counties in the Florida area, asks us how you best lend us an hour or so your time once a month and become a partner in our success story.