System set up for frustration

Low as it was, the public’s opinion of Congress is even lower after the most recent nonsense over the “fiscal cliff.”
If you’re wondering whom to blame, start focusing on state legislatures.
Why? Because that’s who draws the boundaries for congressional districts.
Over the past 20 to 30 years, there’s been a consistent effort to draw congressional maps in a way that creates “safe” districts for one party or the other.
That’s been particularly true in the past couple of decades, when rich databases of voter information made it easier and easier to create districts that were consistently predictable.
On its surface, that might not seem like such a bad thing.
But it has the effect of shifting power to voters in party primary elections, when voter turnout is lower and when those most likely to show up represent each party’s extremes.
In our current congressional district, for example, incumbent Marlin Stutzman has virtually nothing to worry about when it comes to Democratic challengers.
The district is safely Republican.
His only worry is that someone would cast himself as an even more conservative Republican and challenge him in the primary contest.
That’s unlikely to happen, of course, because Stutzman’s about as conservative as it’s possible to be.
But in many districts — both Republican and Democratic — the effect is to pull incumbents to the ideological extremes of their own parties in order to protect themselves from any primary challenge.
And when that happens, compromise — and simply governing — become problematic.
If you doubt that, take some time to study the votes against the recent “fiscal cliff” deal.
Set aside the merits of the compromise that was reached between the White House and Senate Republicans.
Like any other compromise, this one pleased next to no one. Its purpose wasn’t to be pleasing, but to be acceptable to enough representatives on both sides of the aisle. That worked in the Senate.
But many if not most of the opposition in the House came from representatives who feared a challenge from their own party.
And it’s very likely that many of the senators who backed the compromise in what they believed to be the best interests of the country will now face Mourdock-like challenges the next time around.
So whose fault is all this? There’s plenty of blame to go around, but if you’re looking for suspects, start with our state legislatures. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]