By Fred Lucas
Organization Trends
Capital Research Center
October 13, 2017
Summary: Former attorney general Eric Holder is riddled with scandal from the Obama administration, but that won’t stop him from pushing a far-left agenda—and possibly even a presidential run in 2020. Holder has his fingers in the upcoming congressional redistricting pie, and if he has his way, he’ll replace what he considers to be fake Republican “gerrymandering” with real Democratic gerrymandering – with disastrous results.
The notion of Eric Holder as a presidential candidate in 2020 might seem rather laughable at first, considering the baggage he brings with him from scandals in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. He’s also the ultimate Washington insider, epitomizing the revolving door between government and lobbying.
However, nominating him for president might actually make some sense considering the Democratic Party is already pinning so much of their hopes for future success on the former attorney general. These hopes are for rebuilding state parties so that Democrats will have a bench of candidates to draw from after being decimated over the last eight years during President Barack Obama’s administration.
Holder is the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee—which, as the name indicates, is partisan, oriented toward getting more Democrats elected, and is largely based on excuses for past losses. That’s perfectly OK. One would expect both parties to seek a leg up for winning elections and occasionally make excuses for losing them. What’s insufferable is the high-minded rhetoric that Holder’s organization is using, as if it’s only looking to save democracy.
The existence of the organization also makes the illogical leap that elections losses are not because Democratic policies fail, or that candidates are bad, or their ideas can’t be sold to mainstream voters. No. Actually, it’s that the system is rigged by the way congressional and state legislative districts are drawn.
The NDRC touts “fair maps” for districts. Fair (typically the left’s favorite catch-all word for seeking an advantage over their opponents) is how Holder and former President Barack Obama are selling the redistricting crusade. Obama has reportedly jumped aboard as Holder’s ally as his post-presidency pet project.
In Holder’s statements, speeches, and writings about the committee he doesn’t attack gerrymandering itself, which Democrats used for decades to build up their congressional and state legislative majorities. Rather, he attacks Republican gerrymandering.
