For most American presidents, the commander in chief does not particularly look forward to the midterms. In 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term, the midterms produced a huge blue wave against him. His second term has gone so disastrously that the writing is clearly on the wall, and Donald Trump knows it, his administration knows it, and the entire Republican Party knows it. They should not be surprised, because Americans were polled on Project 2025 and most of its tenets were highly unpopular. Still, the Orange Menace and his fascist thugs managed to convince voters that none of this would happen during the 2024 presidential election. As obvious as it may seem, Donald Trump and the Republican Party abandoned respect for democracy long ago, and this is simply the latest attempt to cling to power that they rightfully should lose.

Gerrymandering goes back almost to the nation’s founding. Despite how paleoconservatives often talk about the Founding Fathers, they were not flawless geniuses. They were men capable of making mistakes, and they certainly made them. Elbridge Gerry, before becoming Vice President of the United States under James Madison, drew a district in Massachusetts that gave rise to the term “gerrymander,” even though he pronounced his name like “Gary,” not “Jerry.” Even people in the early 19th century recognized how absurd this was. A truly functioning democracy does not allow politicians to choose their voters. Voters should choose their politicians.

Once Trump became convinced that Republicans were likely to lose the midterms, he pressured Texas to heavily redistrict in favor of the Republican Party, with Florida doing much the same. California and Virginia, as blue states, responded in kind. While gerrymandering is wrong no matter which party does it, the reactions from each side reveal an important difference. California and Virginia acted out of retaliation and reluctance, and even many Democratic voters acknowledged it as a necessary evil. Republicans, by contrast, allowed state legislatures to make these decisions without direct input from voters, and many conservatives openly celebrated when these efforts worked in their favor.

Trump has become so desperate that even my state, South Carolina, is attempting to gerrymander its map even more aggressively than in previous years. Currently, South Carolina has one practically guaranteed Democratic seat and another district in the Charleston area that is very difficult, yet possible, for Democrats to win. The picture above shows the proposed map Republicans are trying to push through the legislature. District 3 in particular is especially absurd because it begins in the northwestern corner of South Carolina and stretches all the way down toward the center of the state, where Columbia is located. No congressional map is perfect, but there is a major difference between the people and culture of places like rural Walhalla and urban Columbia. It is ridiculous to think that a single congressman could effectively represent all of those communities if this map passes.

Unfortunately, this is a very difficult problem to solve. If Democrats play fair while Republicans play dirty, the result is a flawed democracy that cannot function properly. The House of Representatives would essentially de facto resemble the Supreme People’s Assembly in North Korea. On paper, both would be legislatures elected by and for the people, but in practice they would function as one party bodies serving a dictator. If Republicans and Democrats could agree on one thing, it should be a constitutional amendment banning gerrymandering in every state and transferring the power to draw congressional districts to an independent organization rather than political parties with OBVIOUS conflicts of interest.