Blue states are shrinking and red states are gaining:
The 2010 census report coming out Tuesday will include a boatload of good political news for Republicans and grim data for Democrats hoping to re-elect President Barack Obama and rebound from last month’s devastating elections.For political scientists Dec. 21 will be Christmas Day since that's the day they get to open the census results and see how many congressional districts will be changed from state-to-state. With nearly 700 GOP additions in state houses around the country the GOP will have a huge influence on the coming redistricting. Nancy Pelosi lost a lot more than just the House majority in November.
The population continues to shift from Democratic-leaning Rust Belt states to Republican-leaning Sun Belt states, a trend the Census Bureau will detail in its once-a-decade report to the president. Political clout shifts, too, because the nation must reapportion the 435 House districts to make them roughly equal in population, based on the latest census figures.
The biggest gainer will be Texas, a GOP-dominated state expected to gain up to four new House seats, for a total of 36. The chief losers — New York and Ohio, each projected by nongovernment analysts to lose two seats — were carried by Obama in 2008 and are typical of states in the Northeast and Midwest that are declining in political influence.
Democrats’ problems don’t end there.
November’s elections put Republicans in control of dozens of state legislatures and governorships, just as states prepare to redraw their congressional and legislative district maps. It’s often a brutally partisan process, and Republicans’ control in those states will enable them to create new districts to their liking.
The combination of population shifts and the recent election results could make Obama’s re-election campaign more difficult. Each House seat represents an electoral vote in the presidential election process, giving more weight to states Obama probably will lose in 2012. The states he carried in 2008 are projected to lose, on balance, six electoral votes to states that his GOP challenger, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, won. That sets a higher bar for Obama before his re-election campaign even starts.
“The way the maps have shifted have made Obama’s route to success much more difficult,” said Republican Party spokesman Doug Heye. He said the GOP takeover of several state governments on the eve of redistricting efforts was “a dramatic shift.”
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3 comments:
Key factor, imho: Liberals don't have as many kids.
I hope the Republicans don't take anything for granted.
Bad part is that a lot of those out-migrators bring along the bad voting habits from where they were, and start changing the new state to resemble the old state.
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