[lbo-talk] The inequalities of the Senate

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Sun Nov 21 13:46:33 PST 2004


http://newyorker.com/printable/?talk/041115ta_talk_hertzberg

November 19, 2004

THE NEW YORKER

Talk of the Town

Blues

by Hendrik Hertzberg

<excerpt near end>

In Thursday's Times, a front-page news analysis argued that "it is

impossible to read President Bush's reëlection with larger Republican

majorities in both houses of Congress as anything other than the

clearest confirmation yet that this is a center-right country--divided

yes, but with an undisputed majority united behind his leadership."

That is certainly true in institutional terms. But it is not true in

terms of people, of actual human beings. Though the Republicans won

nineteen of the thirty-four Senate seats that were up for grabs last

Tuesday, for a gain of four, the number of voters who cast their

ballots for Republican Senate candidates was 37.9 million, while 41.3

million voted for Democrats--almost exactly Bush's popular-vote margin

over Kerry. When the new Congress convenes in January, its fifty-five

Republicans will be there on account of the votes of 57.6 million

people, while the forty-four Democrats and one independent will be

there on account of the votes of 59.6 million people. As for the

House, it is much harder to aggregate vote totals meaningfully,

because so many seats are uncontested. But the Republicans' gain of

four seats was due entirely to Tom DeLay's precedent-breaking

re-gerrymandering of the Texas district lines.

<end excerpt>

Michael



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