California Insider

Rep. John Doolittle, one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress, was quoted in the the Sept. 11 Sacramento Bee saying this about the governor's redistricting initiative, Proposition 77:

"I think people know I am a pretty strong and loyal Republican. This proposition is bad for the Republican Party...The speaker of the House, the entire House leadership, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and the chairman of the Republican National Committee all think (Proposition 77) is a disastrous idea."

Paul Hefner, a Democratic operative and fellow opponent of Proposition 77, had this to say Monday about a new study suggesting that the initiative would produce more competitive districts:

"Proposition 77 is a political power play. It doesn't surprise me that partisan groups behind it would conjecture to support it."

So John Doolittle thinks 77 is a Democrat power play, and Paul Hefner and his party bosses think 77 is a Republican power play. Is it possible that maybe it's neither, that it is in fact a fair redistricting proposal that is hated by partisans on both sides?

I think the answer is yes. Read the full Rose Institute report here to see why.

Take special note of the report's conclusions about Rep. Howard Berman's San Fernando Valley congressional district. If drawn fairly, the district would be majority Latino. It was drawn by Berman's brother Michael to safeguard his incumbent status by moving Latinos into other districts.