AG Holder keeping 'both eyes on Texas' photo ID, redistricting

The Obama administration continues to mess with Texas. The president visited the state Tuesday to ignore the ongoing wildfire, joke about the increasingly dangerous Texas-Mexico border, and bag wheelbarrows of cash for his re-election campaign. Meanwhile, his attorney general, Eric Holder, has told Texas Democrats that he’s eyeing two issues that the state legislature is working on this session, voter ID and redistricting, according to the Dallas Morning News’ Wayne Slater.

Here’s more from the Super Bowl party from Anchia: “I talked to the attorney general about keeping an eye on Texas in redistricting and photo ID. And his response was, “I’m not going to keep one eye on Texas. I’m going to keep both of them.’ That was an interesting comment from General Holder.” Democrats say a state law requiring voters to produce a photo ID is aimed at discouraging minority voters and the poor. And they worry that new congressional and legislative boundries drawn by the GOP-dominated House and Senate might dillute the voting strength of minorities, who tend to vote Democratic.

Slater never gives the counter argument to the Democrats’ shibboleth, which is that it’s not unreasonable to require photo ID to vote. In fact, it’s unreasonable to maintain the status quo, and a heavy majority of Texans agree. It’s also not unreasonable for the Republicans to control redistricting, since the voters of the state have voted them that power. The last time Republicans controlled redistricting, minority representation increased. And in 2010, minority representation in the Republican Party itself increased (that’s actually what has the Democrats in the state so terrified). Meanwhile, the Democrats still face a lawsuit from LULAC because their primary-caucus two-step system allows party bosses to dilute minority voting at the primary level. What Anchia and Martinez-Fischer are really worried about is that photo ID will make it harder for Democrats to cheat, redistricting will reflect the growing strength of the GOP in Texas as it should, and that Texas minorities are leaving the Democrats in droves on their own. Can’t have that!

So Holder is keeping “both eyes” on Texas, which really means he has the Texas Democrats’ back. Texas AG Greg Abbott would do well to follow Christian Adams’ advice and bypass Holder’s political DOJ altogether. State Rep. Phil King is looking into that very option.