Remember how I said I'd be back Jan 2? Well, I obviously, er, exaggerated. I'm feeling a bit more rested, and while family responsibilities will limit my posting until the new year, I'll be checking in more than I expected.
In any case, Jerome has two posts worth checking out:
The first concerns a Florida Democratic Party that is starting to play smart:
Specfically, a ballot initiative is being spearheaded by Democrats for 2006 that would turn over redistricting to a non-partisan body. That would put an end to a partisan system that's produced an unbalanced 18-7 Republican congressional delegation; a 84-36 Republican State House; and a 26-14 Republican State Senate. In a state that's pretty much 50-50 in terms of partisan strength at the ballot, it takes an awful lot of gerrymandering to produce such results.
It's being combined with an effort to clear the field for Betty Castor running for Governor. Alongside Bill Nelson's Senate re-election campaign, the two will champion the ballot initiative for the 2006 campaign.
It would be nice if every state used non-partisan redistricting. Competitive races are the lifeblood of elections. 80 percent incumbent districts that resemble Politburo "elections" in Cuba or the Soviet Union serve only to entrench politicians of both parties with little regard to local concerns, while depressing voter interest and turnout.
And it's a great issue (fairness and true democracy) for our Florida candidates to hitch to their wagons.
Meanwhile, Jerome makes this point about the people inside DNC HQ:
Everyone I talk to inside the DNC understands the value of Dean as DNC Chair. The DNC works, it works well, and it can work even better. If we took a vote of those working inside the DNC, Howard Dean would win the Chair hands down, on the first vote. So, this isn't a problem of the DNC as an organization not wanting Dean, it's the Democratic Party's current leadership that doesn't want change.
We often forget that the DNC's employees are busting their asses on behalf of our party and our cause. But just as our soldiers in Iraq have been let down by incompetent leadership, so has our party -- not just the rank and file like you and me, but also those inside party HQ. And those guys have as much say in who leads them as most of you have a say in who your boss is.
Oh, and Jerome has his latest installment of the DNC Cattle Call.