Opinion Roundup: Congressional redistricting

For better districts (Greensboro News & Record) -- Who can remember when Guilford County was part of a toss-up congressional district? Probably not many.

A fair and sensible election map is possible (Wilmington Star-News) -- Duke University and the advocacy group Common Cause recently ran a fascinating experiment. They assembled a panel of 10 retired state judges and Supreme Court justices, five Republicans, five Democrats.

'Media stunt' pressures leaders to purge politics from maps (Fayetteville Observer column) -- Two of the state's top legislators, Republican Rep. David Lewis and Republican Sen. Bob Rucho, said it was a "media stunt" when a group of 10 retired judges took part in an effort over the spring and summer intended to make them look bad. Lewis and Rucho are correct. It was a media stunt. It's going to take more such stunts to pressure the Democratic-Republican oligarchy that controls North Carolina to put the people ahead of the oligarchs' craving for political power.