All the figures from the 2000

U.S. Census are now available and in the hands of Georgia lawmakers, who

are wishing they had a ten-foot pole to handle them with.

With new population figures

comes redistricting, and redistricting is about as much fun as sliding

down a razor blade into a pool of alcohol.

A special session for the entire

Legislature to deal with all this won't start until Aug. 6, but special

committees are already at work with special computers drawing up special

maps that if the past is any indication will undoubtedly be thrown into

a special trash can once the full Legislature convenes.

As a result of our growth in

population, in addition to redrawing their own districts the legislators

will be dividing Georgia into 13 congressional districts, two more than

we now have.

District lines for county commissioners

and city councils also will have to be redrawn, though in Fayette that

probably won't be too traumatic commissioners here are elected county-wide,

though they must live in the districts they represent.

As they wade into the process,

you can bet that one question is uppermost in every state representative's

and every state senator's mind: "How can I come out of this process

with a good chance to win reelection?"

A term you will hear often

during this process is "gerrymander," a word coined by combining

the name of a long-ago governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, with

the word "salamander," which, it's said, was the shape of one

district in that state after Republican Gov. Gerry got through redistricting

in 1812.

Legend has it that one member

of the opposing Federalist Party, looking at the map of the new district,

voiced the comparison to a salamander, to which another replied, "No,

better call it a 'Gerrymander.'"

Republicans this summer will

inevitably accuse Democrats of gerrymandering, dividing the districts

in such a way as to mass Republican voters in a small a number of districts

while spreading Democrats around so as to create a large number of districts,

each with a small Democratic majority.

In the past, blacks and Republicans

have found themselves strange bedfellows in redistricting fights, for

the obvious reason that both are in the minority. Both have fought for

redistricting that would give them a better chance of controlling more

districts, and both have pointed accusing fingers at the majority white

Democrats.

This particular redistricting

year promises to be more interesting than most, because the Democratic

majority is smaller than it's ever been. The GOP has already issued press

releases claiming that if the districts are drawn fairly, they'll have

a solid chance of climbing into the driver's seat next election.

The state grew by 26 percent

during the 1990s, much of that growth occurring in areas with Republicans

in the majority. GOP Chairman Chuck Clay put it this way: "Overall,

the Census data confirms what we Republicans have been saying all along;

that Democrats retain a majority in each chamber because of outdated district

lines."

And yes, the press release

does use the "g" word.

Democrats, of course, will

maintain that their only concern is to redraw the districts properly and

get the standard 45,000-odd people in each House district, about three

times that in the state Senate districts, and around 500,000 in the U.S.

House districts.

It will be complicated enough

just to draw the lines so that major thoroughfares and natural features

form most of the boundaries, they'll say. And they'll turn the tables

on Republicans and blacks, complaining that they're under tremendous pressure

to gerrymander in favor of the minorities.

You'll be able to tell the

sheep from the goats if you watch the process and see how things end up.

If it's done fairly and objectively with no political motivation, there

are going to be some incumbents black, white, Democrats and Republicans

who are going to find that they are no longer in the districts where they

had enjoyed easy reelection.

They'll have to move or face

likely defeat next election.

What you're more likely to

see is that almost all incumbents of all races and party affiliations

will be left in pretty good shape, and you can bet that negotiations behind

the scenes played a bigger role in that outcome than any of the press

releases and public posturing.

And Gov. Gerry's legacy will

remain intact.