National Perspective: As Parties Entrench, an Impasse Grows

MARBLEHEAD, Mass. — He helped supply the Continental Army during the early days of the American Revolution. He signed the Declaration of Independence. He shaped the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He was a member of the House of Representatives, a governor of Massachusetts and vice president. He lent his name — perhaps the most mispronounced name in American history, even more so than Kamala — to the creative shaping of a congressional district we now call "gerrymandering."

Elbridge Gerry (pronounce it with a hard "G," like "garden") was perhaps the most famous native of this historic seafaring town, and gerrymandering (I have spent decades as an editor and columnist failing to persuade a single soul to pronounce that word with a hard "G") is once again at the heart of American politics. Even so, the districts being crafted in Texas, where they are drawn to favor Republicans, and California, where the same scurrilous activity is being employed to the advantage of Democrats, lack the artistry of the original gerrymander, which won its name because the district here on the seacoast north of Boston looked remarkably like a salamander.