May 15th, 2012
The deadline for Americans Elect is here and they still don’t have a candidate.
This failure threatens to kill the effort to field a bipartisan third ticket for president before it ever really began—despite $35 million spent and 420,000 people signed up to serve as online delegates.
But supporters and advisors are planning to soldier on, extending the deadline and talking to delegates about possibly opening the process further to encourage greater participation.
“As of today, no candidate has reached the national support threshold required to enter the ‘Americans Elect Online Convention’ this June. Because of this, under the rules that AE delegates ratified, the primary process would end today,” organizers said in a statement released at midnight on the 15th. “There is, however, an almost universal desire among delegates, leadership and millions of Americans who have supported AE to see a credible candidate and ticket emerge from this process.” Read More…
March 22nd, 2012
The Live Free or Die State stayed true to its name Wednesday, as an attempt to repeal same-sex marriage was rejected in the New Hampshire House of Representatives by a decisive margin of 211 to 116.
The victory meant that New Hampshire avoided the ignominy of becoming the first state since the Proposition 8 decision in California to revoke a civil right after it was instituted.
The legislative fight also brought to the forefront philosophical fissures within the Republican coalition, pitting libertarian, small-government conservatives against social conservatives. Read More…
March 15th, 2012
It’s not your imagination: Our dysfunctional divided Congress is the least productive and least popular in recent history.
Some congressmen walk the halls like members of rival gangs. The simple job of reasoning together seems out of reach. A few good men and women — like Sens. Joe Lieberman and Olympia Snowe — have decided to retire rather than subject themselves to this disheartening Kabuki theater. The system is broken. But what can we do to fix it?
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. In the past, divided government presided over ambitious accomplishments like the Marshall Plan and the creation of the interstate highway system. Read More…
February 21st, 2012
The rigged system of redistricting is quietly reaching new lows of collusion and cronyism in states across the country.
It’s an update to an old story—the effort of legislatures to draw themselves partisan safe seats, known as Gerrymandering. Simply put, it’s when politicians pick their people, instead of people picking their politicians.
It comes once every ten years, as mandated by the Constitution, reflecting population shifts recorded in the census. A few states, like Iowa and California, have followed through with independent redistricting commissions after citizen insistence overwhelmed partisan resistance.
Read More…
