Strike Soon

Democrat Tom Shields challenged Republican incumbent John O'Bannon in the 73rd House of Delegates District. In the weeks prior to Tuesday's election, yard signs promoting Shields proliferated in the West End. They were impossible to miss along Patterson, Three Chopt, Forest, and other roadways. Their multiplying numbers suggested a competitive race. O'Bannon won in a landslide. It turns out that everyone who voted for Shields must have displayed a sign. Oh well.

The 73rd also rated as the only race in Central Virginia with legitimate competition. Although the rest of the state saw seats that changed hands as well as close calls, Metropolitan Richmond saw nothing. Republicans picked up seats in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and, despite the welcome defeat of the sullied Phil Hamilton, expanded their majority in the House.

Almost all the districts in Central Virginia remain safe for one party or the other. The lack of action suggests the pernicious consequences of gerrymandering. The turnover statewide also suggests that gerrymandering is not a total impediment to aggressive campaigns. We still suspect that redistricting reform would make competition more likely in more districts more frequently.

Competitive districts produce desirable consequences in general elections -- and they help the parties save themselves from themselves. Safe districts reward the more strident elements in both parties. Although favorites of the "bases" do not always win nomination, primaries and caucuses encourage candidates to slide from the center to the fringe. The situation makes possible the election of cliché-spewing ideologues and wild-eyed incompetents.

Gerrymandering affects not only the House of Delegates but the state Senate and Virginia's congressional delegation. When the General Assembly draws the lines, it seeks to protect incumbents and to maximize party potential. When the goals come into conflict, partisanship becomes more likely to prevail. The interests of constituents fall to the bottom of the list.

A new Census will occur next year. In 2011 the legislature will come up with a redistricting plan to reflect population shifts. Gov. Bob McDonnell will have a say. Because certain stipulations in the Voting Rights Act continue to apply to Virginia, the U.S. Department of Justice will have to give its seal of approval, too.

Democrats control the Senate, Republicans the House. McDonnell is a Republican. A Democratic administration in Washington oversees the DoJ. The time is ripe for bipartisan reform. A ringing inaugural call for redistricting by an independent commission would establish the new governor as a progressive from the start. Indeed, legislation to authorize independent redistricting should be designated No. 1. The symbolism would prove dramatic, if not transformational. As the commonwealth contemplates painful budget decisions next year, a drive for non-partisan redistricting would sweeten the atmosphere. The excuses and the skullduggery have gone on long enough. For heaven's sake, just do it. And this exhortation almost certainly will prove as effective as all those editorials, columns, and resolutions urging the late Ayatollah Khomeini, pretty please, to lighten up just a bit.