GOP can thank or curse arch nemesis for redistricting map

Nevada's newly drawn political redistricting lines were still drying when the first braying cry of foul echoed across the sand and sage.

Feeling like carnival rubes, the Republicans blamed the Democrats for somehow gaming the system, shell-game style, right before their eyes. Forget that smart people worked for months to balance the interests. Somehow, it still left Democrats with an advantage, and some Republicans figured that just couldn't be fair.

When blaming the Democrats didn't gain traction in court, Republicans started blaming themselves for somehow being outwitted by their rivals. Some functionary inside the state GOP must have screwed up mightily, they surmised, for the Democrats to enjoy such obvious advantages under the new map. What other answer could there be?

Let's start with the right answer, the one that's sure to stick in the craws of Republicans from Boulder City to Battle Mountain. They can blame the Democrats' redistricting advantage on one man.

Harry Reid.

You remember him, Republicans. He's your arch nemesis. You curse every time his name is mentioned. He's the man you love to hate.

It was U.S. Sen. Reid who decided back in 2004 -- long before anyone was sketching a new redistricting map -- to remodel the state Democratic Party with increased fundraising and organization. That decision not only increased his own chances of prevailing in future elections, it also set the stage for the kinds of voter registration gains that translated into a clear Democratic advantage when it came time for redistricting.

The Democratic Party was struggling in 2004. Republicans were known as the superior organizers and fundraisers, and it showed on the voter rolls. It was then that Democrats, led by Reid, began focusing on updating and modernizing their voter files, which led to improvements when it came time to get out the vote.

By 2006, Reid and party leaders were preparing two years in advance for the presidential caucuses, which were sometimes misinterpreted in political circles as more a sign of attention-getting vanity than vote-generating utility. In reality, that preparation, and those caucuses, helped identify thousands of new voters. By 2007, the voter registration tide in Nevada had turned for the Democrats.

A dozen months later, the Democrats held a 100,000-voter registration advantage. While that margin wouldn't last, and today the figure sits closer to 60,000, it tells you all you need to know about why that redistricting map looked lopsided. It favored the party with the most registered voters.

Organization takes money, lots of it, and Democrats took full advantage of their time in the spotlight thanks to Reid. They raised and spent $11 million in 2008.

In 2010, the Democratic Party spent another $9.7 million on campaigns great and small. That translated into 1.3 million phone calls ahead of early voting. Volunteers knocked on 750,000 doors.

Then there was the demographic focus. State Democrats courted the Hispanic vote in unprecedented fashion, and the party's political ties with trade and service worker unions were strengthened as well. (Of course, it always helps when the opposing party is busy tarring Hispanics with the brush of "illegal.") Hispanics voted for Democrats in record numbers.

"It did not just happen over one cycle," one Democratic Party insider says. "And one of the reasons the new maps favor Democrats so dramatically is one of Reid's legacies: Thanks to his commitment to party building, there just are more Democrats in Nevada."

Republicans can pretend voodoo and sleight-of-hand played roles in the process, but that's not how the Democrats wound up with the prime redistricting real estate.

If they really want to blame someone for their second-class status in the Silver State, Republicans shouldn't be pointing fingers at Reid. They should remember that it's the supposed leaders in their own party who have failed them in recent years.

For proof, look no further than former U.S. Sen. John Ensign, who spent years grooming his own political career without pressing to expand the reach of the Nevada Republican Party. Long before his marital scandal scuttled his visions of political grandeur, his lack of attention to party mechanics and voter registration helped make the Democrats' job easier.

The same is true for former Gov. Jim Gibbons. While his personal life was an embarrassment to Republicans, his inability to reach out to his party statewide made him a real liability. Contrast Gibbons' bunker mentality with the open-armed approach of Gov. Brian Sandoval, and you can see that at least some Nevada Republicans want to move their party in the right direction.

Restructuring the Nevada Democratic Party is one of Majority Leader Reid's greatest political legacies. The resulting redistricting advantage was a side benefit that figures to pay big dividends in coming elections.

Republicans can hate him if they like.

Or they can wise up and try to emulate his approach to the game.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295.
He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.