TIME - Arnold vs. the Gerrymanders

TIME - Mitch Frank - : Arnold vs. the Gerrymanders: "In California, like most states, there are few things more secure than an incumbent's Congressional seat. In the last election, only two of the state�s incumbents won with less than 60% of the vote; seven won more than 80%. The state balance of power remained the same: 33 Democrats and 20 Republicans once again make up California's Congressional delegation. None of this is surprising; California�s political boundaries, like most of the country�s congressional and state legislative district lines, were drawn to protect incumbents, putting a solid majority of party loyalists in each district. Nationwide, out of 435 seats up for election last fall, only about 30 were considered close races.
Now, Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to shake that up. He's not a big fan of the current districts, which have filled the state legislature with liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans who aren�t huge fans of Schwarzenegger�s moderate ideas. So the Gubernator plans to take a sledgehammer to the current system. In his state of the state address this week, he�ll propose taking control of redistricting away from the legislature and giving it to an appointed bipartisan panel of retired judges. The panel would immediately redraw districts for the 2006 election.
As with many of Schwarzenegger�s proposals, �Arniemandering� is causing a lot of political tongue-wagging. During his two years in office, the governor has scored some big accomplishments, passing a $15 billion bond measure to stave off bankruptcy while holding onto a 65% approval rating. But what�s more amazing � and troubling � is how he�s done it. Arnold has had little success working with the legislature, which is controlled by the Democrats and hopelessly gridlocked. So he�s accomplished thin"