But with a decreased population in the Cleveland area, Republicans could expand the 11th District into Democratic areas nearby, packing it with more Democratic supporters. That would likely leave fewer Democrats in the nearby 10th District, undermining Kucinich. Republicans could also crack Sutton’s 13th District, which runs from Akron northwest to Lake Erie. The 13th includes parts of counties that went strongly for Obama in 2008 (an indication of how the local voters lean), but it also abuts the 14th District, where GOP Rep. Steve LaTourette won with 65 percent of the vote this year. Moving parts of Sutton’s Democratic base into the 14th District would be possible without significantly diluting LaTourette’s chances. “I don’t think he’s worried,” a Democratic strategist who worked in Ohio this year says of LaTourette…

Still, the nationwide map holds little good news for Democrats when it comes to redistricting. Kucinich himself has seemed to acknowledge that his hands are tied: “As long as I have the seat in Congress, I’ll keep doing the best job that I can and not worry about a process over which I have no control.” Other congressional Democrats would do well to get to work also. Two years from now, the other team will have a head start.