[dragonwriter]

> It shouldn't be hard to just write a damn algorithm to divide the state into maximally compact, equal-population regions.

It's trivial. Getting people to agree that “maximally compact” is the right thing to optimize about districts is the hard part; of he many things which have been suggested should be maximized in districting are compactness, competitiveness, preservation of communities of common interest, and expected partisan proportionality of the resulting system. Each of these conflicts with then others, and has predictable partisan advantages and disadvantages compared to each of the others and the status quo; the first prevents any consensus algorithm among participants seeking an ideal without consideration of partisan advantage, the second guarantees that at least one of the major parties will oppose any algorithm because accepting it will lock in a permanent disadvantage. You might overcome the second if you overcome the first, but good luck with that.