Barack Obama — the man who spent eight years lecturing us about the sacred integrity of our democratic institutions — just released a video begging Virginians to vote yes on a redistricting measure that would hand Democrats up to four additional House seats by letting their legislature redraw the congressional maps.
That sound you hear is irony choking to death on its own hypocrisy.
Here’s what’s actually happening. Virginia currently has a nonpartisan redistricting commission — you know, the kind of thing that “good government” types are always telling us we need. Well, this ballot measure would strip that commission of its power and hand temporary redistricting authority to Virginia’s Democrat-controlled legislature through 2030. The same Democrats who scream about gerrymandering every time a Republican draws a map want to — wait for it — draw their own map.
Virginia’s current congressional delegation sits at 6-5 in favor of Democrats. If this measure passes and the Democrat legislature gets to play with the crayons, analysts say that ratio could swing to 10-1. Ten Democrats. One Republican. In a state that elected Glenn Youngkin as governor just a few years ago.
“Redistricting reform,” everybody! (Translation: “We want more seats and we’re tired of pretending otherwise.”)
And who better to sell this blatant power grab than the Smooth Talker himself? Obama dropped his video on April 16th, urging Virginians to vote yes because — and try not to spit out your coffee — “you can push back against the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage.”
Republicans. Giving THEMSELVES an unfair advantage. By supporting… the nonpartisan commission that already exists. The one Democrats want to abolish so they can draw the maps themselves.
The audacity of this man could power a small city.
But it gets better. Obama also said, “By voting yes, you can take a temporary step to level the playing field.” Temporary! They always say temporary. The income tax was “temporary.” COVID lockdowns were “two weeks.” And handing redistricting power to a Democrat legislature is “temporary” — it just happens to last until 2030, which conveniently covers the next two election cycles. Whoopsie!
Now, some of you might remember Obama’s OWN words on gerrymandering from back when he was pretending to be above partisan politics. He once said, “Because of things like political gerrymandering, our parties have moved further and further apart.” He also said, “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government.”
Apparently gerrymandering is a threat to democracy when Republicans do it and a “chance to do something important” when Democrats do it. We appreciate the clarification, Barry.
The groups pushing this measure have massively outraised and outspent the opposition, because of course they have. The Democrat machine has pumped cash into a group called “Virginians for Fair Elections” — which is about as honest a name as “Planned Parenthood.” Meanwhile, the Republican-aligned “Virginians For Fair Maps” is trying to hold the line with a fraction of the resources.
Polling shows the race is tight, with early voting surging. Which tells you that Virginians aren’t as dumb as Obama thinks they are. Plenty of people can smell what this is — a partisan power grab wearing a lab coat and calling itself “reform.”
And this isn’t happening in a vacuum. Democrats already pulled this stunt in California, where Proposition 50 passed last November and is expected to create five more Democrat-leaning districts. Republicans are fighting back in Florida and Texas with their own redistricting sessions. It’s a national map war, and the Democrats’ strategy is simple: if you can’t win the voters, redraw the lines until the voters don’t matter.
That’s what this comes down to. Obama isn’t asking Virginians to “protect democracy.” He’s asking them to let Democrats pick their own voters instead of the other way around. It’s the oldest trick in the political playbook, and they’re not even being subtle about it anymore.
The former president had the gall to close his little video with, “And we’re counting on you.” Yeah, we bet you are, Barack. Because if Democrats can’t gerrymander their way to a House majority, they might actually have to — brace yourselves — win on their ideas.
And we all saw how that worked out in 2024.
Virginians vote on Tuesday. If you’re in the Commonwealth, vote no and tell Obama to go back to his $12 million Martha’s Vineyard estate and stay there. The adults are handling democracy now.
