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Former President Obama and other top Democrats are focusing efforts on state-level races and ending the reconfiguring of voting districts through the politically-laden process known as gerrymandering -- a combined effort to end Trump-ism and help their party regain control of Congress and legislatures across the country.

Obama indicated before leaving the White House last fall that his short-term, post-presidency focus will be on General Assembly races and redistricting after the 2020 Census.

And 2016 presidential candidate former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley has become the most recent high-profile Democrat to take up the cause.

America needs non-partisan redistricting commissions, OMalley said at Boston College Law School, where hes now a visiting professor. This simple reform must become the new norm of American democracy. How can we expect people to vote if their voice has been carved into irrelevance by a political map ahead of time?

An early test for Democrats trying to win state-level races and stopping the Trump wave arrives this weekend.

Delaware is holding a special election for an open state Senate seat that will decided whether Democrats keep their roughly 40-year hold on the chamber.

"If we lose, a new Republican majority will take power and rubber-stamp every single one of Trump's hateful policies," the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said in a recent fundraising letter. "They'll grind all our progress to a halt."

Voting districts are redrawn after a federal Census to reflect the changes in population and other demographic.

Much of the redistricting across the country is done by the political party that controls the state legislature.

However, critics argue the process, known as gerrymandering, has run amok, with the majority party drawing districts in crazy-quilt patterns to help protect incumbents and their party win more races.

Theres one district in Virginia where you have to take a boat on the James River to get to another part, Jared Leopold, spokesman for the Democratic National Redistricting Committee, told Fox News.

The tax-exempt group is leading Washington Democrats major effort to erase the majorities Republicans have in Congress and statehouses across the country.

The Republicans wave election of 2010 handed them the House majority and control of 20 additional state House and Senate chambers, giving the party broad authority in redrawing district maps after the Census that year.

Twenty-three legislatures are primarily responsible for that task. And the situation has only helped Republicans retain their seats and add to 2010 gains.

Leopold cited three main objectives: help Democrats win more races in the next few election cycles to put them in a better situation before redistricting in 2020, embark on legal efforts to undo some of the more egregious redistricting after the 2010 Census and push ballot initiatives that will lead to fair maps.

He described the NDRC as a super group that brings together the efforts of the Democratic Governors Association, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and House Majority PAC.

The groups chairman is former Attorney General Eric Holder, whose support, along with Obamas, will give the group bonda fides and fundraising clout.

"We heard a lot in this past election about rigged systems, Holder said last month in announcing the groups start. But I want to say the biggest rigged system in America is gerrymandering.

However, the group is not championing non-partisan redistricting commissions, as O'Malley and others are.

OMalley, who is continuing efforts to lead the partys progressive wing, has also made clear that his call to end gerrymander speaks directly to what he fears is a rising, anti-immigrant sentiment and other policies associated with Republican President Trump.

I want to speak with you today about the immediate challenges facing our nation, said OMalley, who also equates Trumps beliefs and polices to fascism. We must frame a principled opposition to Trump-ism.

Beyond the Delaware contest, the real bellwether races will start next year in Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey.

Virginia, a battleground state that has voted Democrat the past three presidential elections, next year is having state House races and a gubernatorial contest to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

The governors race already has heavyweights from both parties including Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello. The Republican slate includes Corey Stewart, an immigration hawk and former Trump campaigner, and Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman who nearly upset Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner in 2014.

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee spokeswoman Carolyn Fiddler told Fox News that the Democrats recent efforts are a smart refocus of efforts, more than a reckoning and that related fundraising has been astronomical.

She also said Trumps victory has indeed sparked a lot of interest -- from potential canvassers to candidates. But it has also crystalized some social and political priorities for people in ways they had not before.

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Obama, Democratic 'super group' unite to end gerrymandering, win state races, reclaim majorities - Fox News

Some Barack Obama devotees in France aren't happy with the homegrown contenders vying for the country's presidency, so they're hoping that the former U.S. president will step in and run for office this spring.

"Obama17" posters have been spotted plastered across Paris, urging citizens to visit a website and sign a petition to persuade Obama to enter the race. The goal is to get 1 million people to sign the petition.

Why Obama? "Because he has the best resume in the world for the job," reads the website, which is in no way connected to Obama.

While this all sounds good, there is one problem. The French president needs to be, well, French. And Obama is not.

The website also says Obama could be an antidote to the popularity of right-wing parties in the country.

"At a time when France is about to vote massively for the extreme right, we can still give a lesson of democracy to the planet by electing a French president, a foreigner," reads the website in French.

A spokesperson for the group told ABC News Thursday morning, "We started dreaming about this idea two months before the end of Obama's presidency. We dreamed about this possibility to vote for someone we really admire, someone who could lead us to project ourselves in a bright future. Then we thought, whether it's possible or not, whether or not he is French, we have to do this for real, to give French people hope ... Vive la Republique. Vive Obama. Vive la France and the USA."

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Obama devotees in France hoping for an 'OBAMA17' presidential ...

"It's totally crazy, but the cool thing is that once you get past that, you start thinking that maybe it's possible. Who cares that he's not French? He's Barack Obama," one of the campaign organizers told CNN.

They've launched a website and they put up 500 posters of Obama around Paris last weekend, said the organizer. He asked to be identified only as Antoine.

Yes, it's a joke, he admits -- but one with a serious purpose.

"We want to show that people are fed up with the politicians here. People are tired about it and they like this joke. It gives people a little fun amid all these scandals," he said.

French voters go to the polls April 23 in the first round of voting for a new president. If no one gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers go to a runoff on May 7.

Polls suggest that Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front party, will top the field in the first round, but won't get the absolute majority a candidate needs to win outright.

Antoine isn't a fan of the frontrunner.

"We are so fed up with what Marine Le Pen is doing, and with the fact that we weren't able to find a candidate to vote for, only one to vote against," said Antoine. "We started talking about that and it came up that Obama is free -- so why not hire him?"

Antoine knows there's not much chance Obama will play along with his joke.

But he says people have been getting in touch with serious suggestions -- for example, how to get around the problem that Obama isn't French.

"We've had some funny emails from lawyers telling us how it could be possible. He would have to be naturalized by the president of the French Assembly," Antoine said.

It's not clear whether Obama is aware of the project, but Antoine is hopeful.

"I think if Barack Obama answers this, there will be a huge amount of reaction. I think he might like this kind of thing," said Antoine. "People in France would get crazy, especially young people. But he won't say yes to our proposal."

Read the rest here:
Yes we can... elect Obama president of France? - CNN

New York Times

Obama Takes In a Broadway Show, but Shuns the Spotlight New York Times Barack Obama has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office last month, and he largely avoided the spotlight on Friday night at least as much as a former president can when he is attending a Broadway show. Shortly after the lights went down ... Obama draws crowd, cheers in NYCThe Hill Obama spotted outside NYC Starbucks, greeted by cheering crowdCBS News Barack Obama Takes Daughter Malia to Broadway Show And He Looks Incredible!PEOPLE.com The Boston Globe -AOL News -ABC News all 65 news articles »

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Obama Takes In a Broadway Show, but Shuns the Spotlight - New York Times

Former President Barack Obama, sporting a partially unbuttoned white oxford beneath his jacket, was greeted by hundreds of ecstatic onlookers in New York City on Friday.

Obama exited a coffee shop inside a Fifth Avenue building and waved to the crowds. He held his coffee, put on his sunglasses and boarded his black SUV, one of three in his motorcade.

Hours later, Obama and his eldest daughter, 18-year-old Malia, turned up at the Roundabout Theatre Company to see a Broadway show, a remake of Arthur Miller's "The Price."

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The father-daughter duo disappeared during intermission, but returned before the show continued. At the conclusion, they joined the audience in a standing ovation before being led out by Secret Service.

Obama was spotted back in his hometown of Chicago in mid-February attending meetings for the Obama Center he is working to build in Jackson Park.

It was the first time Obama has been back home since he delivered his farewell address on Jan. 10. The first family traveled to San Diego following President Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. They vacationed in California and the British Virgin Islands before returning to Washington, D.C., where they will reside until their youngest daughter finishes high school.

Obama started working fulltime out of his Chicago-based post-presidential office the first week of February. Last Wednesday, Obama attended four strategy meetings regarding the South Side facility, which will include a museum, library and event center.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Several states resumed debate over whether to ease or restrict access to bathrooms by transgender students.

02/25/17 12:37 AM

He met with neighborhood leaders at the Obama Foundation's Hyde Park office and three others about fundraising the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary for construction.

Obama and his family currently reside in Washington, D.C.'s Kalorama neighborhood.

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Obama grabs coffee and a Broadway show in NYC - Washington Examiner