Let's see how one party played by the rules and one party worked around them (tip to Instapundit):
The citizens’ commission had pledged to create districts based on testimony from the communities themselves, not from parties or statewide political players. To get around that, Democrats surreptitiously enlisted local voters, elected officials, labor unions and community groups to testify in support of configurations that coincided with the party’s interests.
When they appeared before the commission, those groups identified themselves as ordinary Californians and did not disclose their ties to the party. One woman who purported to represent the Asian community of the San Gabriel Valley was actually a lobbyist who grew up in rural Idaho, and lives in Sacramento.
In one instance, party operatives invented a local group to advocate for the Democrats’ map.
A nonpartisan redistricting commission was to take politics out of the process. Instead, it allowed politics to masquerade as nonpartisan analysis.
That's the problem with rules--you can always find a way around them. Especially if you have money. And no scruples. The combination of both is powerful.
Better to make the (government) game smaller than to expand the rules to make the game "better." If the government controls less and our well being relies less on government decisions, there will be less incentive to game the government-run system. That's the only real way to clean up the system.
Actually, I'm pretty sure this is exactly what President Obama had in mind.
I'm shocked this is a ProPublica piece. They've been reliably left wing. Or they were when I paid more attention. I find it hard to believe they've generally drifted to the center.
