UPDATE: I’ve another post about this at the top of the page, in which I come to a slightly different conclusion. Feel free to move the conversation there.
Original post: You just knew it was going to happen: Republicans are having a fit and falling in it after learning that liberals are filling out their Census forms in droves, the Wall Street Journal reports:
According to Census Bureau figures, some of the most conservative states have among the lowest response rates so far. About 48% of households in Texas and 53% in Alabama have mailed in their forms so far, for example, while the response rate in Massachusetts, a more-liberal state, is at about 57%.
“The unstated concern: An under-representation of conservatives could mean fewer Republicans in Congress and state legislatures for the next 10 years.”
Ironically, it used to be Democrats who worried about being undercounted because it used to be minorities who were scared of the government! But thanks to a marketing campaign that depicts the Census as a sure-fire way to increase entitlement spending on the one hand, and the mad rantings of Reps Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul on the other, Real Americans are refusing to turn in their forms while Hispanics–every last one of whom you just know is going to vote Democrat–are returning their forms like someone’s paying them to do it.
(For Census opponents: Sure, it feels invasive, but it’s not going away, and refusing to comply costs you lots and lots of money. Disclaimer: My household has already returned its form.)
So, a year from now, maybe two, look for: a convoluted explanation as to why Republican scare-mongering has nothing to with unimpressive House returns.