Yes, Dems have answered Adams and Pearce on the redistricting issue

by David Safier

Sometimes I blame Dems for not being aggressive enough about getting their message out. But sometimes the problem is, the media treats them like a tree falling in the forest no one can hear.

Case in point: Howard Fischer wrote two articles on the "War on Christianity" nonsense put out by Adams and Pearce on the redistricting nomination process. Neither contains a single word from a Democratic legislator. But that doesn't mean Chad Campbell has been silent.

Here is a press release put out by the Democratic Reps yesterday:

In response to a press conference held today by Republican legislative leaders to protest the list of Independent  Redistricting Commission applicants chosen by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, incoming House Democratic Leader, Chad Campbell, urged his Republican colleagues to take a hands-off approach.

"Republicans didn't get their ideal list of appointees to choose from and neither did Democrats," Campbell said. "But the whole idea behind an Independent Redistricting Commission is for it to actually be independent."

"The voters created the Independent Redistricting Commission and the point was to remove the politicians and political parties’ control from the process. Now the Republican legislative leaders are trying to interject themselves in to that process because they don't like how it is playing itself out," Campbell said. "This isn't about Republicans and Democrats controlling redistricting. It's about letting a fair and independent process work as it was intended to do."

"It's called independent for a reason. Until it is time for Legislative Leaders to make their appointments, politicians should be hands-off this process," Campbell said.

Each Legislative leader, including Campbell, will be allowed to appoint one Member to the Independent Redistricting Commission from the eligible applicants that are chosen by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments.

Now Fischer has no excuse not to use the Democratic response.

And here's a comment Steve Farley just emailed to me:

The fact is, this appellate court commission did a good job of acting in a neutral way to create a fair set of commission nominees just like the voter-approved initiative to create independent redistricting intended. Republicans are simply whining that they did not get their way — they are still fighting the very existence of an independent commission, and want it to go back to the days where they controlled the whole process to their own benefit. Constructing sensational (and false) allegations won't do anything to overturn the voters' will in this case.

As Democrats, we have been watching this process very carefully for months, and will continue to do so. We will not allow Republican bullying to cheat the system for their own benefit, and we will continue to speak out loudly when we see Republican legislative leaders trying to break the rules.

Both Campbell and Farley are saying what needs to be said. There's no excuse for continuing with the one-sided, "religious controversy" approach that plays into the hands of the Rs and ignores the Ds.