Former Attorney General Eric Holder said ex-President Barack Obama will aid in efforts to fight gerrymandering. Photo by Carolyn Caster/AP
Witnessing Barack Obama leave the White House was a bitter pill to swallow for many, but former Attorney General Eric Holder says the ex-POTUS will be making his return to politics very soon. So, the world can stop missing him.
Holder told reporters Tuesday, Feb. 28, that he and the former president had been discussing fundraising and legislative efforts to aid the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, an organization devoted to pushing back against gerrymandered districts that tend to favor GOP lawmakers. The former U.S. attorney general added that Obama would “be a more visible part of the effort.”
“It’s coming; he’s coming,” Holder said of Obama, whose term as president ended less than two months ago. “And he’s ready to roll.”
Holder also said he expected the typical pattern of the party in the White House losing state legislative seats in off-year elections would worsen under contested President Donald Trump, and that’s where that NDRC steps in.
The essential goals of the committee include winning critical state elections that impact redistricting, ensuring Democrats have the resources needed to fight gerrymandering and investing in initiative campaigns in states where ballot reforms are an effective means to changing gerrymandered maps, according to the NDRC’s website.
“The NDRC was created … to build a targeted, state-by-state strategy that ensures Democrats can produce fairer maps in the 2021 redistricting process,” the website states. “With fairer maps, Democrats can rebuild the party from the state level and secure a stable federal majority for the decade to come.”
News site Politico also cited statistics that showed Republicans winning 49 percent of the vote in key elections but somehow getting 55 percent of the seats in the 2016 elections.
“This is really a battle for our democracy,” Holder said. “The notion that people are denied their ability to cast a meaningful vote … is inconsistent with who we say we are, inconsistent with what we say our democracy is about.”
Obama also will reportedly work with other political groups like the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee to further fight gerrymandering and help the Dems reclaim legislative majorities, according to Fox News.
