begin quote from:
Eric Holder: We're going to Republican states and we're bringing Obama with us
USA TODAY Feb 7, 2018
Related Coverage
Obama Attorney General Eric Holder hints at a possible run for president in 2020
Highly Cited CNBC Feb 7, 2018
WASHINGTON
— Former president Barack Obama will join a national effort to address
redistricting concerns, including traveling to red and swing states to
help Democratic candidates campaigning on the issue, his former attorney
general said.
“I expect that later
this year, you will see him campaign," Eric Holder said of Obama. “He
will be focused on the races that will matter for redistricting. “He has
identified this as his chief political activity in his post
presidency."
It would be part of the National
Democratic Restricting Committee, a group led by Holder that was set up
to address redistricting concerns across the country. The group's
efforts come as Democrats and Republicans battle over the control of
Congress and state legislatures in the midterms. Both parties have
decried election maps as unconstitutional while simultaneously fighting
over who will draw them in the future.
Holder, who spoke to reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, said he briefed Obama on the group’s strategy earlier this week.
The
effort will include supporting redistricting reform efforts in states,
raising public awareness, launching legal challenges and helping elect
Democratic candidates focused on “fair” redistricting.
Holder said the 2018 elections are vital to that effort.
"These
are in some ways the first critical steps for putting in place people
who will take power back from politicians and give it to the people," he
said. “There’s a system now where politicians are picking their voters
as opposed to citizens choosing who their representatives are going to
be. And it’s a fundamental affront to our system of Democracy.”
Holder
said redistricting is an issue he and Obama have talked about for
months and even before Holder left the Justice Department in 2015.
The
group will target states, including Colorado, Florida, Georgia,
Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. Several other states,
including Pennsylvania and Texas, are on its watch list.
Holder said he will travel to states to help Democratic candidates and raise awareness about the impact of gerrymandering.
He
said he also hopes to engage more young people and people of color
about the long-term consequences of elections “so they’re organized and
energized to get out and vote come November.”
No comments:
Post a Comment