State legislative races are not just being more closely watched and fiercely contested this year because of the tea parties emergence, the public anxiety about the state's economy, or even the Right's obsession with stalling the implementation of health care reform.

The 2011 General Assembly will redraw the legislative and congressional districts that will remain in place until the 2021 session when they will be redrawn again.

The leaders of both political parties want control of the legislature to draw districts that will maximize their power and control over the General Assembly and the makeup of the state's congressional delegation for the next decade.

That's the way redistricting always works, to the winner of the election after a census goes the spoils, in this case the ability to draw the political lines and literally determine in many cases who will be elected for the next ten years.

That's why national money is pouring into legislative races in states like North Carolina where control of the General Assembly may be up for grabs. Raw political power is at stake, the power to gerrymander.

It doesn't have to be that way. That's why many good government groups have long pushed to change the way districts are drawn, to take them out of the hands of the politicians as much as possible and have them drawn by an independent commission.

The idea is that politicians shouldn't choose their voters, voters should choose their politicians. Several states already have an independent redistricting commission, and North Carolina should follow suit.

Bills calling for an independent redistricting commission are introduced every session, usually by Democratic Senator Ellie Kinnaird and a Republican colleague. For years that was Senator Ham Horton from Winston-Salem.

But most Democrats have resisted the idea and have been unwilling to even consider giving up the power to draw district lines.  Republican legislative leaders complained mightily about the redistricting plans and to their credit many of them signed on to bills calling for the independent commission. 

The Republicans also said that it was about fairness and had nothing to do with their minority status. Right is right after all. It is simply better for the democratic process if redistricting is taken out of the hands of the politicians. And that's true.

If some of the pollsters are right and the Republicans do manage to take over control of the state Senate or House or both, they will have the chance to live up to their lofty rhetoric, put principle before politics and set up an independent commission to draw the legislative and congressional district lines.

Twenty House Republicans co-sponsored legislation to do that in 2009, including the most likely candidates for Speaker if Republicans gain control of the House, Minority Leader Paul Stam and Republican Whip Thom Tillis.

Fourteen of the Senate's 20 Republicans co-sponsored an independent redistricting bill last session, including Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, who is likely to become President Pro Tem if Republicans take control.

It sounds like a clear mandate for an independent redistricting commission to the get the politics out the process once and for all. 

All that has to happen if Republicans take over the General Assembly is for them to live up to their word. Surely they wouldn't let politics triumph over principle again.