In his new book, David Daley, the editor in chief of Salon, describes what the Republican strategist Ben Ginsberg has called “Project Rat_____ ”: the strategy of shadowy (but thus far legal) packing, splicing and dicing of congressional districts to secure Republican domination and, in turn, subvert the will of the American voter.
In its more modest form of gerrymandering, the practice has been in play for decades and used by both parties alike. But Daley proposes that this particular strain of manipulation is unprecedented in its sophistication, its permanence and its virulence. Of the myriad theories about why, precisely, American democracy seems so broken — increasing socio-economic divides, media bifurcation, voter suppression efforts — Daley points to this Republican-led district distortion as the truly original sin, and the one from which our democracy is unlikely to recover anytime soon.