OPINION:
Barack Obama’s Organizing for America is poised to merge with Eric Holder’s National Redistricting Action Fund, and the end result — an “All On The Line” campaign — will bring on a massive grassroots push to redistrict in a way that solidifies progressive influence for years to come.
Simply put: this is a leftist power grab that will undoubtedly bring on more election-time shenanigans.
Of course, Holder doesn’t word it that way.
The former U.S. attorney general who’s yet to announce a decision on a presidential run says it’s all about fairness and equality and democracy and justice.
But as every good conservative knows: those are all leftist code words for killing conservatism, one district at a time.
“The integration of OFA with NDRC into our redistricting effort,” Holder said, in an exclusive interview with The Hill, “is going to help us have activists all over the country who are fighting for fair maps and more representative democracy. The integration of OFA with NDRC is an organizational action, and it’s really just designed to effectuate that which OFA has always stood for, which is to engage citizens at the local level.”
How nice.
And as it happens, the U.S. Census will be collecting its constitutionally mandated data to determine the upcoming decade’s congressional apportionment in 2020.
The left has been chomping at the bit to seize the upper hand with this apportionment process for some time. Call it a long-term strategy.
“[This is our] opportunity to bend the great arc of history toward justice,” is how Obama relayed it, this past December.
Voila. We have a merger of two of perhaps the most high-profile and influential donor and supporter lists in the nation.
Holder said the united group’s main mission would be to train activists to fight fairly for redistricting in ten states — North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Colorado and Michigan.
That — and to buck Republican cheaters.
“It’s only by cheating, that’s the reality, have [Republicans] been able to maintain control of Congress,” Holder said.
The underlying message couldn’t be clearer: Get ready for the election dramas.
Get ready for the ballot box challenges.
Democrats are on to complaining about redistricting, calling out Republicans as election “cheaters” — and in political speak, that’s a war cry aimed at rallying the base. Holder and Obama, by joining forces, are positioning to become the base camp for the fight.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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