Democrats have made power grabs their calling card, constantly pushing schemes to cement their control and reshape the political landscape in their favor. They always wrap these moves in high-sounding rhetoric about fairness and progress, but it’s about locking in Democratic dominance, especially in Washington’s federal institutions.
The Texas redistricting fight exposes their hypocrisy for all to see: when Democrats game the system, it’s “democracy in action.” When Republicans fight back and redraw maps to reflect reality, suddenly it’s a “power grab” that threatens the republic.
Take the push for statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Democrats claim it’s a quest for equal representation and righting historical wrongs. But the truth is that both heavily blue territories would hand Democrats four new senators and a handful of House seats, cementing left-wing control in Congress for a generation. It’s less about justice and more about stacking the deck in their favor.
And then there’s the filibuster.
The filibuster is a Senate rule Democrats love to hate until it blocks their agenda. Under George W. Bush, they used it to block his judicial nominees. But when Republicans returned the favor under Obama, Democrats called the filibuster a racist relic. In 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid killed the filibuster for lower-court judicial picks, silencing the GOP minority and rewriting rules they had exploited. Mitch McConnell warned, “You will rue the day.”
He was right.
By 2017, with Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling the Senate, Democrats couldn’t stop them from reshaping the judiciary. Did Democrats learn their lesson? No. In 2021, they tried again to scrap the filibuster to prevent Republicans from stalling Joe Biden’s agenda so they could steamroll their radical policies into law. Luckily, thanks to former Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), that effort failed.
Manchin and Sinema also blocked other dangerous Democrat power grabs that threatened to undermine our country. In 2021, the Democrat-led House rushed through the Freedom to Vote Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the For the People Act, bills designed to federalize state election laws and erode election integrity nationwide. These measures pushed universal mail-in voting, ballots accepted up to ten days after Election Day, automatic voter registration, and felon voting rights. Democrats even aimed to abolish the Electoral College. Taken together, these proposals would have gutted election security and helped Democrats cling to power.
We were lucky it didn’t work.
Now, look at Texas. GOP leaders there responded to a Justice Department directive exposing flaws in the state’s congressional maps. They crafted new lines that fairly reflect Texas’s conservative values, including the surge in Hispanic GOP support in places like Houston and the Rio Grande Valley. Democrats’ reaction? They ran away, staging a desperate walkout to break quorum and grind the process to a halt. It was a childish, obstructionist move to cling to power they didn’t earn, all while stalling flood relief and ignoring the will of Texas voters.
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This double standard couldn’t be clearer. When Democrats redraw districts, they’re heroes advancing democracy. When Republicans do the same, they’re villains subverting the system. The media and establishment elites gladly excuse the left’s power grabs, while demonizing conservative efforts as illegitimate. That’s the narrative Democrats want to sell, and sadly, too many swallow it hook, line, and sinker.
Texas redistricting is about more than just maps; it’s a response to years of leftist power grabs. Republicans are pushing back, fighting to make sure a rigged system doesn't drown out their voters. The uproar from Democrats reveals their fear of a fair playing field where power isn’t a one-way street.
In the end, Democrats will always justify their power grabs as righteous and necessary. But when Republicans stand their ground, they face endless attacks and accusations of destroying democracy. This selective outrage exposes a basic truth: both parties play the game of power, but only one side gets to rewrite the rules and call it democracy.
Texas is showing that when Republicans fight back, it’s not a power grab; it’s self-defense. And maybe, just maybe, that’s a fight worth having.
