In a very good article update of how undoing the Tom DeLay gerrymandering of Texas to dilute Democratic voters impact, The Final Stretch: A Look At Texas Congressional District 21, the author, Vince Leibowitz, kinda misses the whole Vote Out Incumbents point, in describing the new District 21 as a more solid Republican district.
The point is, an anti-incumbent mindset by voters can undo gerrymandering and the polls of so called "safe" office holders, anytime the voters choose to. If the resident voters of District 21 are happy with Rep. Lamar Smith's representation these many years, they will keep him in office with the same performance in the U.S. House of Representatives he has always provided. If, on the other hand, the voters of this district have had enough of the current lot of politicians in the U.S. Congress, they can remove Lamar Smith from office by voting for his challenger. And if in 2 years, they don't like that new person's performance, they can vote out that incumbent as well.
At some point, however, voters must decide whether or not they are going to take control of their politicians by voting them out of office, if they are not to continue to be controlled by these incumbents. And make no mistake, voters are controlled by those in elected office. Ironically, incumbents use voter's tax dollars to send out the very propaganda needed to get themselves reelected. If the voters are happy with that propaganda and approve of the results of government with Lamar Smith as their representative, they should reelect him. If not, and if they want to send a message to all of Congress, they can remove Lamar Smith, and shock the political establishment in D.C. into paying attention to District 21 voters.
And let's be clear, unseating Lamar Smith, considered now even safer as an incumbent, would indeed cause a flurry of attention to be paid to District 21 voters after the election, in the attempt to find out why voters removed a so called "safe" incumbent. If they learn that Lamar Smith was removed because voters disapprove of the way Congress is being run and the decisions coming from it these many years, both parties and their incumbents, and their future challengers will pay attention to the message sent by District 21 voters.
That is the power of the anti-incumbent vote, if the voters ever decide to exercise that power over their government and politicians. The difference between a king in office in perpetuity and an elected politician is nothing more than the vote. It is up to voters to decide whether they wish to be ruled by kings, or hired help the voters to be the employer of. Lamar Smith is just hired help. If Congress has not served voters well, it is time for dismissing the hired help who thinks they can't be fired, and hiring someone hungry to live up to voter's expectations.
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