So, is Professor Alan Rosenthal, the alleged "neutral" 11th vote on the redistricting committee, just another Democrat flack, or did he really try to accept the Republican version of the map?
Probably a bit of both. Rosenthal has decades of writings to examine, all of which point to his bias towards "continuity" in representation. Why this is, is a mystery. Surely even a cursory examination of New Jersey history show thousands of counter-examples. The longer a politician is in office, the more likely he is to be corrupt and, worse, help institutionalize the corruption that is now ingrained in NJ government.
Since New Jersey is dominated by the Democrats, who have bankrupted the state, ruined its credit rating and given its residents the highest per capita taxes in the nation, anyone who values "continuity" over other factors, must be to some extent a flack for the big fat government advocates in the Democrat Party.
But Rosenthal's bias was well-known. In fact it was almost certain that he would value that criteria above all the other factors that allegedly enter into the equation, such as contiguity, maintaining county lines, etc. It would seem that the Republicans on the task force misplayed their hand.
And the result has crippled any chance they might have had to extend the resurgence they had with the Christie election. Morris and Somerset Countys, prime Republican strongholds, have been gerrymandered out of contention. What influence they had has been split off into surrounding areas, also Republican. Middlesex County has been punished for its effrontery in going for Christie. Ocean County has been weakened as well. Up and coming younger Republicans like Sean Kean and Denise Coyle have been thrown to the wolves.
It's now clear to any observer that the GOP in New Jersey is its own worst enemy. So long as it is led by pols as corrupt as Donald DiFrancesco or nebbishes like Tom Kean, Jr. the Dems will keep kicking them in the teeth.
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