In case you’re interested in very detailed maps of the various Congressional Districts, the Census Bureau provides some handy wall maps. And might I add, Indiana appears to be gerrymandered to hell and back.
Masson's Blog
In case you’re interested in very detailed maps of the various Congressional Districts, the Census Bureau provides some handy wall maps. And might I add, Indiana appears to be gerrymandered to hell and back.
Doug, your link goes to the 108th. Here’s the 109th. No difference for Indiana, but Delay sure screwed up Texas in ’04.
Ah, but which circle of hell? I are a college graduate, you can’t fool me. This is another attempt by intellectual elitists to confuse, er, someone. Maybe a voter.
Even a district which appears at first blush to be relatively compact, such as Indiana’s 3rd, is divided between media markets (Fort Wayne and South Bend), increasing the expense of running (which hurts challengers). (Souder, by the way, runs much more strongly in Elkhart and Kociusko counties (including in Republican primaries) than in Allen.) It might be interesting to do overlays of media markets and congressional districts and see how many congressional districts have major population centers in differing media markets. Just at a glance the second seems to have at least two, South Bend (South Bend media market) and Kokomo (Indianapolis media market). One wonders how a South Bend based challenger is supposed to come up with money to reach Howard County.
Wonder indeed. In addition to South Bend and Kokomo, one must also buy media in Lafayette to reach the southwestern portion (as you know, White county, etc…) I especially feel for Brad Ellsworth in the 8th district. Nineteen counties from Terre Haute to Evansville east to Bloomington area. Door to door there must be a killer. Something should be done about these districts to minimize the influence of big money. Real campaigning has been taken over by the ability to saturate the market with tv ads.
Running a campaign is difficult. Do you go with radio and if so what do you say? Having listened to many political ads, I find they turn me off. TV ads may work a bit, but they are expensive. Mailers get tossed. Telemarketers get hung up on. I found face to face contact works best, but it is slow. But I find I get many more people willing to spread my message this way. I also believe you get repeat supporters the next campaign.
My problem is the Journal Gazette. When they ask me a question, I cannot be trust them to report what I say. Tracy Warner is the worst reporter I have come across at not reporting accurately an answer you give. Any quote you read in a paper attributed to a political candidate is most likely not an accurate quote.
This year The Elkhart Truth gets the award for being the most honest and evenhanded newspaper covering the 3rd District. If I gave awards for the worst paper in Indiana for covering candidates issues, it would be the Journal Gazette.