The great 20th century chronicler of presidential politics, Theodore White, once characterized the nascent stages of the 1964 Republican presidential primaries as a “pillow fight underwater” – meaning that, while it was something of a battle for the actual participants, those above the surfac e neither knew nor cared what was transpiring. So it was in the age of Barry Goldwater, and so it is today in Maryland. As everyone surely knows by now, Gov. Wes Moore – with the blessing of a full chorus of national party leaders and political influencers – is leaning hard on the legislature to redraw our congressional districts in the midst of the traditional 10-year census cycle. This unprecedented effort to eliminate Maryland’s only Republican House member – the execrable Andy Harris – intends to counter efforts by red states such as Texas and North Carolina to eliminate Democrats from their delegations. In wholly unrelated news, only 22 percent of Americans surveyed say they trust their government to do the right thing, “all or most of the time.” The general mood of Marylanders in response to all this has been one of weary ambivalence. Repulsed by Donald Trump’s daily and desperate cries for attention, disgusted with the extremism and calcified partisanship on display in Congress, and increasingly sleepless over their household budgets and family savings, we seem to have responded to this latest Fight To Save Democracy with the back of our collective hand. This ennui has been captured in a recent UMBC poll, in which 81 percent of Marylanders cited partisan gerrymanders as a “major” problem for democracy, and more than half of those actually following Maryland’s redistricting effort feel it shouldn’t move forward. What should be of far greater consequence to our state’s leaders, according to these same voters, are the growing inability of households to pay for food, gas, electricity and housing all at the same time. None of this should come as a shock. History has shown issues a bit more abstract, such as the future of democracy, tend to assume a secondary position in times of economic and fiscal hardship. Maryland has lost more than 15,000 jobs and untold private sector positions due to Trump’s dismantling of the federal government. It has borne a disproportionate brunt of the longest federal shutdown in American history, and it is now faced with a $1.4 billion deficit less than a year after the governor and lawmakers thought the beast had been slain through taxes, fees and service cuts. So, yes, there are plenty of plates in the air on State Circle. That said, Gov. Moore’s push for redistricting hasn’t exactly benefited from the best optics. From the start, it has carried the aura of a perfunctory, joyless slog to a fixed outcome rather than an opportunity to actually reinvigorate our democracy by engaging the people of Maryland in a good faith conversation. The redistricting commission itself was comically lopsided. Representing Maryland’s 2.2 million Democrats are a quartet of famed party heavyweights, chaired by U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks. Representing our state’s one million Republicans? Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss – an estimable and genial public servant but one with literally no name recognition or east of the I 68 split. The meetings themselves were a case study in irony – presented as a citadel of democracy, yet relegated to Zoom and, therefore, bereft of any direct contact with the governed. All for the sake of drowsily accepting public opinion about a matter with a foregone conclusion. Why does it always have to be like this? Why does the so-called preservation of democracy always have to be so dreary, heavy-handed and, dare I say it, undemocratic? If we are truly concerned with the durability of American democracy in the face of authoritarian encroachment, then why don’t we gather the governed for a discusson of ways to actually make people EXCITED about its fresh possibilities? Why couldn’t we have a free-flowing discussion – in an actual physical location and not an infernal Zoom screen – about the possibilities of ranked choice voting? A fascinating electoral reform in which candidates are listed by voters in order of preference and votes are reallocated from also-rans to the leading candidates until one surpasses the 50 percent threshold. Supporters say the model inspires issue-oriented candidates with broad appeal, campaigns that are positive and winners with a wider appeal. Opponents say the whole thing is needlessly complicated and that the voters aren’t smart enough to “get it.” Why not end the self-interested speculation among incumbents who have done just fine under the current system, and take it to the actual people for a change? For that matter, why not gauge public support for primaries in which Maryland’s nearly one million unaffiliated voters can choose a party in which to vote on election day? Opponents say that it bastardizes the spirit and intent of party primaries. Supporters are tired of paying with their tax dollars for elections in which they cannot participate. And folks like this humble scribe are attracted to the possibility of dragging our primaries away from their polar extremes and back toward the middle. Other potential reforms abound, all of which would inspire thoughtful and healthy debate. The elimination of legislative redistricting, based upon the subversive premise that voters should choose their elected leaders and not the other way around. And with the knowledge that AI could easily construct districts that satisfy the requirements of redistricting without yielding maps that look like a Jackson Pollock original. The elimination of dark money from our statewide elections. A realignment of our political calendar so that our municipal elections occur at the same time and in the same places as our gubernatorial elections. Our democracy is sick. And not in the way today’s youngsters use the term. According to a study by the Kettering Foundation, in partnership with Gallup, two-thirds of Americans believe democracy is still the best system of government there is. However, only 24 percent think our democracy is performing well, compared with 51 percent who do not. The road back leads not through exercises like this shambolic redistricting commission, with its technological guardrails and ordained outcome. While we may be tempted to cheer any effort to disinfect Maryland’s congressional delegation by removing Andy Harris from the team picture, one must also know this isn’t a true cure for what ails us. The lost trust and sense of possibility runs far deeper, and cannot be remedied with a political Band-Aid, hastily applied. If our leaders are serious about reinvigorating democracy, and not just using it as a partisan rallying cry, it should think seriously about giving us something to be for and not simply against. ...read more read less