When I first heard about the top-two primary system, I thought "Yeah, it's alright but not all that helpful." In fact, there might be an IVN article where I endorse it, but don't exactly shout it from the rooftops. I had some of my own ideas and this one didn't exactly seem impactful. I was wrong. While I was looking at big picture ideas on how to overhaul an obviously broken process, I simply ignored the simplest and easiest way of all. For my site, I thought of many different ways we could ...

It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since 1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920. There, of course, have been states that have attempted to circumvent Iowa and New Hampshire, claiming that they don't truly represent America as they are small states with seemingly narrow ...

Jim Jenkins, an independent candidate, is running to fill an open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska. The seat is being vacated by Senator Mike Johanns (R) who has decided not to run for re-election when his term is finished. The Republican primary will likely be a heated battle with a significant amount of outside money being spent and political conventional wisdom says that in a state as "red" as Nebraska, the victor of the Republican primary will be the odds-on favorite to join Senator Deb Fischer...

Secession, a word common 150 years ago, is once again gaining steam in several states. In the quest for a government that is more representative of the people, groups of different ideologies want to break away from the majority. However, this separatist movement is unlike the days leading up to the Civil War; it is bloodless and involves regions of states separating from the state itself. Rural areas want to disconnect from urban areas; conservative groups want to break away from governments th...

A quick glimpse through the Drudge Report the other night brought up quite a few articles focused on racial issues. While I know that Matt Drudge lives for controversy, I still had to wonder whether this was indicative of our nation as a whole. I am always hesitant to write about racial incidents given my background (white, middle-income, small town/suburban). What in the world do I know about it? I grew up in a relatively homogeneous community, and I live in one today. Still, I am concerned.Dru...

Climate change usually leads people to think about the North and South poles. After all, the polar bear is the unofficial mascot of climate change. However, climate change shows its effects right here in the united States. Perhaps one of the most obvious regions is the Midwest. Home to tornadoes, flooding, blizzards, and drought, the Midwest is - with the exception of hurricanes - home to many of the weather extremes within the continental United States. With some research pointing to climate ch...

Detroit's bankruptcy has been all over the news recently. While there all sorts of theories as to why or how this happened, that there was one magic bullet that could have saved the city, the truth is much more complex. Detroit did not wake up one morning and realize that bankruptcy was upon it. It has been a process years, decades in the making. While a confluence of events have led to it, one reason is greater than all of the others. Detroit residents allowed this to happen.In so many articles...

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act (more commonly referred to as DOMA), Conservatives across the country are up in arms. As a Conservative, this baffles me to some degree. Conservatives are supposed to believe in smaller government, not overreaching, allowing more choices to be made by the individual states not an overarching federal government. However, that does not stop many Conservatives from being upset because they want smaller government on their terms....

Congressman Mike Rogers has become the latest Midwestern GOP House member to pass on an open Senate seat race. In the Midwest, it is becoming difficult to find high-profile Republicans for Senate races in 2014. This past week, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI 8) announced he would not seek election to replace the retiring Carl Levin (D-MI), Michigan's senior member of the United States Senate. Rogers cited his position within House leadership (he is chair of the House Intelligence Committee) and the GOP ...