Avoid this redistricting battle

If nothing else, U.S. Reps. Rahm Emanuel and Jan Schakowsky should think twice before using their congressional colleague Tom DeLay as a role model for much of anything.

Published reports have Emanuel and Schakowsky, both Chicago Democrats, suggesting that Illinois should consider following the lead of Texas, where the highly partisan and ethically challenged DeLay is spearheading a midcensus redrawing of congressional districts.

Typically, states redraw their congressional and state legislative boundaries once every 10 years, after each decennial census report. But DeLay touched off a bitter and protracted battle by pushing through early redistricting for the benefit of Texas Republicans. GOP leaders in two or three other states are initiating similar efforts.

Here in Illinois, Emanuel has said the current congressional map does not reflect his party's strength in a state that has given Democrats control of the governor's office and both state legislative chambers and that went heavily for John Kerry in November.

Illinois has been trending toward the Democrats of late, no question. That must be attributed in part, however, to former Gov. George Ryan's indictment on corruption charges and the subsequent state Republican Party implosion in selecting a U.S. Senate candidate. But even in the absence of such unusual circumstances, parties' political fortunes typically ebb and flow to some extent over the course of a decade. Redistricting with each shift in the tide makes little sense.

This departure from the norm would be of dubious value to the public in any event. It could be particularly hazardous in Illinois, where any such redistricting effort would quickly shape up as a battle between Emanuel and U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Plano Republican.

Hastert and Emanuel have been lobbing verbal shots at one another in recent weeks. A Democratic push for redistricting would escalate their spat into a party battle that would infect the entire Illinois congressional delegation, making it more difficult for members to work toward nonpartisan objectives for the entire state. That kind of poisoned atmosphere would be particularly counterproductive when the state, with Hastert ensconced as speaker, enjoys opportunities for legislative gain that don't come along every day.

Leaders in Springfield would have to give a green light for redistricting. Fortunately, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan seem disinclined to fan the flames in this type of battle. Both have helped apply the brakes on a plan favored by some of their party colleagues that would shift authority and money for regional transportation heavily from suburban areas to Chicago Democrats and the CTA. Blagojevich says his search for an alternative CTA funding solution is motivated, in part, by his desire to avoid partisan warfare within the state's congressional delegation.

If anything, ways should be found to make redistricting less partisan, not more. Tom DeLay's idea is as bad here as it is in his own state.

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