Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fayetteville Finger, Is it going to happen? (Part 7)

March 29, 2011 – 3:51 pm

Political columnist John Brummett analyzes the latest developments at the Arkansas Legislatures.

John Lyon in his article “Compromise sought on redistricting,” Arkansas News Bureau, March 27, 2011, states:

As the legislative session enters what is scheduled to be its final week, some lawmakers say they are seeking a compromise on the biggest issue they have yet to resolve: How to redraw the boundaries of the state’s four congressional districts.

“We need to not leave without a good, fair map,” said Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, the sponsor of a redistricting proposal that has not yet been presented in committee.

Key said he hopes a compromise plan will emerge early this week. He said he did not know whether the plan would be an amended version of his proposal or would be incorporated into someone else’s bill.

Rep. Clark Hall’s plan

The only proposal that has cleared a committee is House Bill 1836 by Rep. Clark Hall D-Marvell, which was endorsed by the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Hall said Friday he planned to run the bill in its present form on the House floor early this week.

Hall’s proposal would extend the 1st District into the Democratically controlled southeastern corner of the state and extend a narrow reach of the 4th District into Washington County to encompass the Democratic enclave of Fayetteville, home to the University of Arkansas.

Republicans call the plan a naked attempt to put Democrats in a position to unseat 1st District U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, who was elected in November to the seat previously held by Democrat Marion Berry, while bringing Fayetteville into the 4th District, home to Arkansas’ only Democratic congressman, Mike Ross of Prescott.

“The Democratic Party is using Washington-style tactics and parliamentary ploys to reverse the will of Arkansas voters who chose to have a majority Republican congressional delegation,” state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb said last week.

Webb threatened a lawsuit if the proposal becomes law.

“They’re just yelling things out because they don’t like the plan, because it doesn’t provide as much incumbent protection for their three office holders as they would like,” responded state Democratic Party Chairman Will Bond.

Bond called Hall’s plan “a perfectly fine and legal map” that equalizes population between the districts and preserves the principle of one person, one vote. Compared with the other 431 U.S. House districts, Hall’s proposal would not even crack the top 100 for odd configurations, he said.

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The Democrats can talk all they want about how this plan is not out of the ordinary, but the clear facts give a different picture. This plan cuts through lots of counties and splits them up for the political purpose of attempting to get about 30,000 Democrats out of Fayetteville and putting them in the 4th District. Jason Tolbert pointed that the slice of Crawford County only includes 67 voters (some of the land pictured below).  

Max Brantley actually laughed this theory off as a dumb joke when he first heard about it and now he is defending it. While backtracking Brantley wrote on March 5th:  “…as I did the other day, that growing the 4th Congressional District into Fayetteville is not so strange as it first appeared.”

The Democrats are sticking it to the Republicans on this one, and I doubt that the Republicans will be able to keep Fayetteville where it belongs. Earlier Brummett suggested sending Ft Smith to the 4th, but since this new idea came around there will be no more talk of that.

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Coach “Tom” Sawyer made big impact

March 29, 2011 – 1:56 pm

Here is a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger using an Airlight
Broom as a prop for “cleaning house” in the California Recall
Election as seen on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, ect in 2003. The
Airlight Broom is manufactured by Little Rock Broom Works

Originally published in Saline Courier on January 8, 2011

    E-mail

My wife’s grandfather was Lecil Richard “Tom” Sawyer and he lived from September 30, 1906 to September 5, 2004. He was one of the most outstanding men I have ever known. In Waldron, he was a legendary football coach that won 87% of games during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, and they would later name the football field after him.
Coach Sawyer was married for over 60 years to Vera Mae Martin Sawyer, and their children are Tom Franklin Sawyer of Houston, Texas (who is my father-in-law) and State Senator Mary Anne Salmon of North Little Rock (who is my wife’s aunt).
Most of the details for this article come from an interview I had on Dec. 22nd with Edward “Odell” Fryar who was a running back on the Waldron Bulldog team. Odell and his wife Peggy live in Little Rock, and I got to know them in 1983 when I was a member of Little Rock’s First Baptist Church.
“Coach Sawyer was probably the best high school football coach in Arkansas,” Fryar said. “He was a task master on the practice field and made sure every player played hard every play. Moreover, he was an even better person off the field.”
Tom Franklin Sawyer noted, “My father cared about his players, but he got the most out of them. I remember that if a running back fumbled the ball in a game, then that player would carry a football with him to all his school classes the next week.”
“My father was a great motivator and encourager and those two qualities brought out the best in his players,” daughter Mary Anne Salmon said.
Fryar was a junior on the  district winning 1948 team, and actually Waldron won the district all three years that Fryar was on the team (1947-49). Waldron was a small town of only 1,292 people in 1948 and Benton had over 6,000 people. Fryar said it was not unusual for Waldron to have 30 players dressed out and to be facing teams that had many more players and also the opposing players would be much larger than they were.
The day after Thanksgiving in 1948, Waldron had traveled to Bentonville and beat the undefeated Tigers. Fryar said that the Tigers should have won the game, but  two trick plays resulted in big plays for Waldron.
The first was on a kick off when Herman Jones faked a hand off to Buddy Rogers while returning a kickoff, and all the team blocked for Rogers. The result was that the whole Bentonville team tried to pursue Rogers while Jones hid the ball on his hip and ran slowly all the way to the 10 -yard line.
The second trick play involved Fryar getting a pitch from the quarterback, Leon Bobbitt, and running hard to the left. When the defense  rushed him,  he threw a long 45 -yard lofty pass to Bush McGaugh who was wide open, and McGaugh ran under it and took it for a long touchdown play. That resulted in a  20-19 victory over a very good Bentonville team. Now, Waldron would advance to play the Benton Panthers in the state playoffs.
The victory over Bentonville was a costly one for the Waldron Bulldogs. Johnny Evans, the star running back,was banged up and Fryar had to replace him most of the time for the Benton game.
Fryar said there was  a big crowd on hand and a thick fog settling over the field. The Panthers had more players suited out than Waldron, and they looked much bigger than the Bulldogs did too. However, Waldron had the tallest player on the field with tight end Don Sevier who was 6-8, and later Sevier earned All Conference honors for Arkansas Tech in basketball as their center, and eventually served as the Athletic Director for Arkansas Tech.
Benton Panther standout players included Bill Level, a 225 lb tackle, who was a four year letterman, and “Shoat” Shoppach, 165 lb left halfback.
According to the December 9, 1948 issue of The Benton Courier, the Benton Panthers defeated Waldron 13-6 at C.W. Lewis Stadium. Here is what the article reported:
The Benton Panthers were pushed to defeat the unbeaten and untied Waldron Bulldogs 13-6 at Lewis Stadium Friday night.
The Panthers scored late in the second quarter on a pass from Erwin to Jennings, who was standing in the end zone. Lovell’s try for the extra point was good. The Panthers led 7-0 at the half.
Benton kicked off to start the last half. One play after the kick off Buddy Rogers got on a 75 yard run, and was brought down on the 5 yard line. Two plays later Herman Jones try for the extra point was blocked. Benton led 7-6.
Benton scored in the last quarter on a pass from Erwin to Smith that was good for 35 yards and Smith ran 20 more to score. Lovell’s kick for the extra point was blocked.
Waldron was hampered by injuries, and many of the players had to be taken from the field. There was a fog all the last half which made seeing the ball difficult for the players, as well as the fans.
The final score was Benton 13, Waldron 6.
Probably the greatest legacy that Sawyer had was the family and friends that he influenced. Not only did Sawyer serve as football coach but he was the Waldron School Superintendent from 1934 to 1975 and Mayor of Waldron from 1975 to 1983. He also taught a men’s Sunday School Class at the Waldron First Baptist Church for many years.
“There are few people in my life that have received the level of respect I hold for L.R. “Tom” Sawyer,” state representative Terry Rice of Waldron said. “I guess the saying, ‘You give respect, you get respect’ fits well here. Whether it was a small child who needed reassuring, a student who had acted up, or an adult from any walk of life, I witnessed someone who could be as kind, as tough, or as knowledgeable as possible while always listening”
Rice said that even though Sawyer could have moved on to have “achieve lofty heights and big pay,” he chose to stay and touch the lives of thousands of people in Scott County.
William Roy Wilson, Jr., an United States Senior District Judge, recalls a story from his senior year at Waldron High School involving Sawyer and some chewing gum.
“I was in the library chewing gum, and Mr. Sawyer called me outside and told me, ‘Billy Roy, you are kind of a leader and I need for you do me a favor,” Wilson recalls. “’If you see anyone chewing gum, tell them it is against the rules and I am sure they will listen to you.’ I swallowed that gum on the spot.”
About a year ago, my wife Jill and I talked about the legacy of her grandfather  who we called, “PapPaw.” I told her that I decided to have my grandkids call me PapPaw out of honor of the memory of her grandfather. The complicating factor was that my 3 yr old grandson, Luke Hatcher, had already been calling me “Granddaddy.” However, he did well in the transition, and he told my son , “Granddaddy wants me to call him PapPaw!!!”
I hope that one day Luke will ask me why I chose the name “PapPaw, and I will be glad to tell him.
• • •
Everette Hatcher is a regular contributor to The Saline Courier. He is the fourth generation in his family to work in the broom manufacturing business. Everette and his wife Jill have four children and live in Alexander.

LR “Tom” Sawyer shown at his desk at Waldron School District around 1940.

 
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Today I am profiling St lawmaker Terry Rice of Waldron who I deeply respect.

Terry has known the Sawyer family since his youth and grew up in the

First Baptist Church were the Sawyers got to know him.

Meet Terry Rice

I am passionate in my belief that we cannot continue the status quo.  We cannot tax and spend our way to prosperity.  Government must become more efficient just as successful businesses have.  With over 35 years business experience I am president and co-owner of three Rice Furniture & Appliance stores.  I believe our state needs to foster the right environment to attract business while at the same time practicing tax conservation for the future.  I currently serve on the southeast region board of Associated Volume Buyers/ Brand Source national dealer group and am past president of the Arkansas Home Furnishings Association, serving on the board for over ten years.  Serving people’s needs and solving problems are everyday goals for me in our family’s 58 year third generation business.  I have been recognized as state and region “Dealer of the Year” from our various industry associates.

I believe our faith, life and family values are the foundation of this great country and must stand before political correctness.  Lifelong residents of Scott County, my wife, JoAnn, and I have been married 35 years, have 2 sons, Jeremy and wife, Kim, and Paul and wife, Sarah, who have blessed us with four grandchildren. We are active members of the Bates Baptist Church. I have raised cattle and have been a long time supporter of FFA and 4-H Youth livestock programs.  I understand the importance agriculture plays in District 62 and the state.  I helped establish and served as past president of the State Line Volunteer Fire Department and will support our community fire departments.

I have long been interested in our legislative process and feel now is the time to make a difference by voicing my conservative values for our future.  Hard work and a common sense approach are needed to serve District 62.  I do not seek personal gain or recognition from the office and only seek to work for the good of all people.  I stand for principles and integrity.  I follow the tradition of proven leaders.  My dad, W.R. Bud Rice, served South Sebastian and Scott counties as state representative for 18 years from 1977-1995.  My granddad, Worth Rice, served in the House from 1935-1939.

I know the education and training of Arkansans is vital for our state to compete and I will work to further improve those goals.  I look forward to meeting and listening to your concerns during this campaign.  I believe when Arkansans passed term limits for serving in political office their intent was to be represented by ideas and fresh view points that come from the people and not a single view point passed back and forth from spouses swapping political offices.  This is about the people having a choice to have their voices heard.

I am dedicated to spending the time and resources needed to serve District 62 in the Arkansas House of Representatives, and I will be the one who handles constituent concerns myself as your elected official.  Please feel free to contact me about the issues that are important to you.  I humbly ask for your vote and support in the November 4th General Election.
By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

GOP response to Fayetteville Finger? (part 6)

March 28, 2011 – 11:40 pm

I have often wondered if the Democrats will regret trying to suck Fayetteville into the 4th for two reasons. 1. The majority of voters in Fayetteville are Republicans. 2. The vast majority of people in Fayetteville (over 80%) oppose strongly this action to put them in the south part of the state as far as their representation goes (according to Jason Tolbert’s poll).

John Brummett makes a case for the Fayetteville Finger in his last article:

Slicing right up the gut of a Republican hotbed to take out the only Democratic boxes, then claiming you have no choice but to do it because the growing district must lose population — come on…

Still, I probably owe it to Democratic advocates to relay the case they make in seemingly serious tones for proposing to run the 4th Congressional District along a narrow swath right up that hill to gouge Fayetteville out of the 3rd District.

Next Brummett goes ahead and give 7 reasons for the Fayetteville Finger. I cover all 7 reasons in my previous post but today I want to give the GOP response. This is from an email I got from the Republican Party of Arkansas:

Top Reasons Why the “Pig Trail Gerrymander” is Bad for Arkansas

  • The State Democratic Party’s proposed congressional redistricting map Partisan Pig Trail Gerrymanderdubbed the “Pig Trail Gerrymander” ignores the traditional communities of interest in Arkansas. We have four regions: Ozarks, Northeast Delta, Central Arkansas and the Southern Timberlands.
  • The map splits these regions, especially the Ozarks and Southern Timberlands.
  • The map splits five counties in Arkansas.
  • The “Pig Trail Gerrymander” or “FayettevilleFinger” is the State Democratic Party’s desperate attempt to hold on to power in the face of a resounding defeat at the polls last November. The manipulated boundaries give Arkansas Democrats a path to continue 140 years of one-party rule in Arkansas.
  • Arkansas Democrats are more interested in power play politics than fairly representing the diverse people of Arkansas. Democrats have blocked other proposals in the House State Agencies Committee which stay truer to our current congressional makeup and split fewer than five counties.
  • The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce opposes the capture of Fayetteville into the fourth. Fayetteville has been in the Third Congressional District for more than thirty years. Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Steve Clarksaid, “I believe this proposal is detrimental to the economic growth of Fayetteville and the economic growth of our region. This proposal is partisan and overly political.”
  • Congressman Steve Womack and former Rogers Mayor opposes the proposalstating, “it undermines 20 plus years of progress we made…and I don’t think for partisan reasons we should destroy that.” Congressman Womack is referring to the decades of efforts made between city governments to help Northwest Arkansas work as one area to improve economic development.
By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Brummett:Reasons to put Fayetteville in South? (part 5)

March 26, 2011 – 11:27 pm

John Brummet gave 7 reasons for the Fayetteville Finger in his recent article and here they are:

First, they argue — correctly — that congressional redistricting is inherently a partisan exercise. The political parties try to protect themselves. The party with the state legislative advantage gets to protect itself first.

Second, they argue — correctly — that this Fayetteville Finger is legal. It is a contiguous district. It largely adheres to adjoining state legislative districting, which, of course, must soon change as well…


Third, Democrats contend — again, correctly — that districtwide commonality is not a requirement, especially when a rural area loses so much population that it requires extensive geographic expansion….


Fourth, they say — and this is true as well — that their plan, in transferring for political purposes a few Democratic counties in the southeastern corner of the state from the 4th to the 1st District, actually has the concurrent advantage of consolidating the mutually interested Mississippi River Delta counties all the way to the Louisiana border.

Fifth, Democrats say that this Fayetteville-centered redistricting plan is less partisan than a plan of theirs might have been. This also is correct, if something of a straw-man argument.


Sixth, they assert that there is nothing that says our decennial congressional redistricting must be done in a way that disturbs the status quo as little as possible. We have done it that way in recent decades only because we were a one-party state with veteran congressmen and the prevailing objective was to shake things up as little as possible….

Seventh, they say a redistricting plan must be passed in the Legislature and that there is the potential for support for this plan in Fayetteville that does not exist in a more logical geographic area, such as Fort Smith and Sebastian County.

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I would agree with one of Brummett’s earlier statements in the first part of his article: It is entirely too conspicuous a little gerrymander — too abrupt a departure from what we have always done — to escape critical attention. The Democratic desperation to stay competitive through meandering mapping instead of policy persuasion is a ripe target for ridicule.

Congressman Steve Womack is one that also jumps on board as far as ridiculing this idea.  He did so in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on March 26th.

“I think it’s absurd,” he said. “I’ve said all along that it’s an absurd plan, a silly plan.”
“The fact that it’s got any legs at all in the Arkansas House, and perhaps in the Arkansas Senate, is a travesty,” he said.
This week, Chairman Doyle Webb discusses the State Democratic Party’s congressional redistricting proposal dubbed the “Pig Trail Gerrymander” or “Fayetteville Finger” for it’s suspicious meandering, creative carvings and raw partisanship.
By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Brummett:Will Democrats Gerrymander Fayetteville into South Arkansas? (part 4)

March 22, 2011 – 1:37 pm

Ark. Lt. Governor Talks About Sebastian Co. Redistricting

 My son Wilson, 12, and Hunter, 22, are both visiting my friend Sherwood Haisty and visiting Yosemite Park right now as I speak. Take a look at this video of Yosemite Park.

Steve Brawner wrote: “Rep. Mike Ross, has had to perform a balancing act in his words and in his votes.” I think once the Democrats get finished with his new district he will probably get beat because they are shoving too many Democrats into Rick Crawford’s district. Time will tell though.

John Brummett in his article “Democrats gesture toward Fayetteville,” Arkansas News Bureau, March 22, 2011, asserted:

Some leading Democrats, peeved at my Pig Trail moniker, contend that this redrawing is not any more illogical, or even as illogical, as putting Harrison of the northwest mountains into the 1st District with Helena-West Helena, snug against the river on the southeast.

But the Harrison/Helena configuration would be a logical progression of our redistricting pattern of recent decades, one that already puts Helena with Mountain Home in the 1st District. It is what you would do if you wanted to disturb the status quo as little as possible.

But adding Harrison to the 1st District lessens the Democratic chance of taking out Rick Crawford.

I agree with Brummett that this is not a logical way to go about doing the 3rd district. I think we will be the subject of ridicule and will may the infamous top 20 list that I wrote about back on March 17th.

I posted this on the Arkansas Times Blog on March 17th and today Max Brantley also brought up the 4th district of Illinois up and also put up the same map that I did earlier on my blog.

Re: “Nothing natural about congressional redistricting”

I bet Sue Madison gets such an ear full from the people back home that she has to reject this plan. It is my view that it is okay to gerrymander to some degree, but to not get carried away. Max asserts:”The Republican talking point that it is a perverse gerrymander to run a peninsula up to Washington County to capture Fayetteville for the Fourth District. That map would look a little strange, yes…Congressional redistricting is and always has been political in every state.”

The worst case in the USA today is the Illinois 4th district. Look it up and you will be ashamed of anybody that came up with this. I got it off the internet for the worst 20 cases. Yes it is political like Brantley points out, but can’t you see that the good people in Illinois got carried away? Are we going to be added to this list of 20 districts that look silly? 

Illinois 4th
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D.
 

 

 

 

 

Aerial view of Iwaki City, Japan 11 March 2011

At least 300 people are already confirmed to have died but many are still missing. This is Japan after the earthquake and tsunami.

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Pelphrey and the Razorback Hatcher Curse

March 21, 2011 – 6:21 am
By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Brantley and Brummett:Will Democrats Gerrymander Fayetteville into South Arkansas? (part 3)

March 17, 2011 – 12:40 pm

 

In his article “Pig Trail Gerrymander refuses to die,” Arkansas News Bureau, March 17, 2011, John Brummett asserts:

Carrying this Pig Trail Gerrymander in his briefcase, notably, is an eastern Arkansas farmer Democrat, Rep. Clark Hall of Marvell in Phillips County. He only so happens to be well-positioned as chairman of the House State Agencies Committee, which will consider these plans and which has a membership of 12 Democrats and eight Republicans.

He was grinning the other day when I accosted him in the Capitol corridor on this gerrymander.

“It’s not cherry-picking,” he said. “It makes sense when you think about it.”

If you are so desperate in regard to your region’s historic partisanship that you are willing to defy logic and draw defiantly nutty districts that are transparently designed to give yourself a wildly contrived fighting chance, then, yes, it makes perfect sense.

The Senate State Agencies Committee, which will consider these same issues, has four Democrats and four Republicans. One of the Democrats, Sue Madison of Fayetteville, has been hearing from her hometown constituents that they detest this grotesque gerrymander.

That prominent Democrat who asserted the 2-to-2 “feel” of the state also told me that, after considerable drama, maybe even into a later special session, the Legislature probably would be forced to accept some logical tinker with the status quo.

That would mean Boone or White to the 1st, thus another evolutionary step in the Republicanization of Arkansas.

Arkansas Democrats can run only so far from both the truth and the people.

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I bet Sue Madison gets  such an ear full from the people back home that she has to reject this plan. It is my view that it is okay to gerrymander to some degree, but to not get carried away. Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times has a different view:

The Republican talking point that it is a perverse gerrymander to run a peninsula up to Washington County to capture Fayetteville for the Fourth District. That map would look a little strange, yes.

But to assert there is a “natural” way for existing congressional districts to grow is a fallacy based on nothing. Why should the 1st “naturally” grow further north into the hills? It would be far more “natural,” if some sort of geoconsistency were the measure, for the 1st Disttrict to grow from its western border in Lonoke County right up to the end of the Delta at Ozark Point in Little Rock, capturing all the final bits of flat land (and many thousands of black voters) in Pulaski County.

Congressional redistricting is and always has been political in every state.

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This is the worst case in the USA today in my opinion (Below). Yes it is political like Brantley points out, but can’t you see that the good people in Illinois got carried away? Are we going to be added to this list of 20 districts that look silly?

Steve Brawner notes:

Some want Fayetteville to join the mostly southern Arkansas Fourth, which, if you can picture that in your mind’s eye, will require some very creative map-drawing.

The easiest way is just to slide Fort Smith out of the Third and into the Fourth, but the city seems to be resisting that idea.
I think it would benefit Fort Smith to make the move. Even though it is the largest city in the 3rd District, it geographically is off to itself a little bit. The power belongs to the mass of humanity stretching from Fayetteville to the Missouri border. Moving to the 4th would make Fort Smith the big dog of the district.
 
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I do think it would be very stretched to put Fayetteville in the 4th district. Brawner thinks it is hard to map out too.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Illinois 4th
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D.
 

 

 

 
 
By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Brummett:Will Democrats Gerrymander Fayetteville into South Arkansas? (part 2)

March 17, 2011 – 9:11 am

In his article “Pig Trail Gerrymander refuses to die,” Arkansas News Bureau, March 17, 2011, John Brummett asserts:

Let me try to put this as simply as possible:

—The 4th District across southern Arkansas must pick up territory and people, as must the 1st in eastern Arkansas (which is to say the Democratic areas are declining), while the exploding 3rd District in Northwest Arkansas must give up territory and a little more than 100,000 inhabitants (which is to say the Republican areas are growing).

—Any continuation of the redistricting patterns of recent decades, which is to say any logical adaptation of the status quo, would have the 1st District continuing to spread from its eastern Arkansas base across the northern hills.

—A decade ago the 1st was extended by that pattern all the way to Mountain Home and Baxter County. The natural extension this time would be to move further west and higher up the hill to pick up Harrison and Boone County, now in the 3rd District and famously conservative and Republican.

—The only other natural option would be for the 1st District to pick up White County from the 2nd District of Central Arkansas. Home to Harding University, White County also has gone Republican, as has most of Little Rock’s surrounding and growing suburban area.

—When something is happening naturally, the only way to stop or slow it is to act unnaturally. Thus we behold the Pig Trail Gerrymander, which would rid the 3rd District of population in a way that would save the 1st District from having to pick up Harrison.

——-

I think there are no good alternatives for Democrats because there are 125,000 extra Republicans that are getting moved out of NW Ark and they will make the other districts more Republican.

I also think this effort by the Democrats in Arkansas will become a national story. In the end, I think the Democrats will back down and change their mind about this plan. Probably for the same reasons that Max Brantley thought it was a rumor at first and he totally dismissed it as laughable.

Broken Road

Photograph by Franck Robichon, EPA

A lone vehicle passes a train overpass mangled by the recent earthquake in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, on March 12.

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Brummett:Will Democrats Gerrymander Fayetteville into South Arkansas? (part 1)

March 17, 2011 – 8:41 am

 

In his article “Pig Trail Gerrymander refuses to die,” Arkansas News Bureau, March 17, 2011, John Brummett asserts:

A prominent Democrat was explaining to me the other day that Arkansas is neither still a Democratic state nor newly a Republican one. As regards our four congressional districts, he asserted, Arkansas “feels like 2-and-2.”

That sense aside, the state currently goes 3-to-1 for Republicans.

Beyond that, any logical or obvious redrawing of the four congressional districts under the new Census seems to strengthen or preserve the Republican inclinations of three of the four, all but the 4th across southern Arkansas, which now has the only Democratic representative, Mike Ross.

That, then, is the point of the Pig Trail Gerrymander.

That is my name for this absurdly still-viable notion to extend the 4th District northward along a squiggly line from some wilderness area out between Ozark and Alma and run it up narrowly to carve the Democratic-leaning city of Fayetteville out of the otherwise overwhelmingly Republican 3rd District and attach it to the 4th.

This intergalactic idea sprang from a back room all the way across the state from Fayetteville, in eastern Arkansas.

It was not concocted for any reason having to do with either of the affected districts, the 4th or 3rd. Instead it was contrived wholly to try to protect against any further Republicanization of the eastern region’s 1st District, which went Republican last year for the first time since Reconstruction.

Democrats think they can take it back, thus forging the 2-to-2 split they assert as some kind of natural-seeming order.

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 Brummett is right when he asserts, “Instead it was contrived wholly to try to protect against any further Republicanization of the eastern region’s 1st District.”

The Republicanization of Arkansas on the federal level has happened at the same time it is happening on the State government level. The way things are going for the Democrats, they will be lucky to keep 40% of the State Reps and Senators in office in 2012. Look around at the states around us. Mississippi has a Democratic controlled House and a Republican Controlled Senate, but every other state (TX, TN, LA, MO, OK) have Republican control. After 2022 the Republicans will have rigged it where we will never have another Democratic Congressman from Arkansas. Every district will have 60% Republicans in it. Look at what length the Democrats are having to go to keep one district competitive (Putting Fayetteville in the South).

Wave of Destruction

Photograph by Mainichi Shimbun, Reuters

A tsunami wave crashes over a street in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, in northeastern Japan on March 11.

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Brantley and Brummett:Democrats want Fayetteville in 4th District

March 8, 2011 – 2:54 pm

John Brummett noted in his article “Don’t laugh too hard at Pig Trail gerrymander,” (Arkansas News Bureau, March 5):

The first I heard of it, of what I call the Pig Trail gerrymander, I laughed hard.

But state Sen. Sue Madison of Fayetteville, Democratic chairman of the Senate State Agencies Committee that will consider such matters, says she expects this little gem to be formally proposed as a seriously intended congressional redistricting plan.

Max Brantley asserted on March 3rd on the Arkansas Times Blog:

I was inclined to reject this out-of-hand as as hoax. But it’s not.

A devoted reader sends along an e-mail from Steve Clark, leader of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, to various community and elected leaders objecting to a purported congressional redistricting idea that would move Fayetteville and perhaps all of Washington County into the Fourth Congressional District. It’s now in the Republican 3rd.

I do not think this will happen because the map would look too crazy. The real gamble will be if the Democrats try to make a run at the 2nd district. I think that Tim Griffin has a bigger margin of victory now with the rapid growth of Saline County and Faulkner County to work with, and it would take a lot to put him at a disadvantage.

I think that Brummett earlier article on this sounds more logical to me. You can access that here where I posted it earlier.

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)