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Rasmussen published the results of a new survey Tuesday that showed a sizable percentage (around a third in each state) of likely voters saw the elections in New Jersey and Virginia as a referendum on Trump. The larger take way, however, is that voters are just sick and tired of the parties and their candidates on both sides of the aisle. Given the low turnout in both states, it appears most voters were sending a much bigger message than how they felt about the president: * Most voters are t

2017 is an off-year for US elections. November 7 will see gubernatorial elections held in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as house state legislative elections in the same states. There will also be various other local elections, mayoral races, and other citizen initiatives taking place. There is a lack of media coverage for these smaller elections, and they will certainly fly under the radar. Many won’t know where to vote, who to vote for, or what issues should help them decide. A small minor

America’s “two-party” version of democracy is unsustainable. The good and bad news is that local and state politics is more important than ever. If there is to emerge some third way to take advantage of the vast pool of frustrated and virtually disenfranchised independent American voters, it will likely begin in a state election. That’s a big conversation. And it’s happening all across America. But let’s focus our attention right now on the hotly contested New Jersey gubernatorial election and

The New Jersey primaries produced gubernatorial candidates that are speaking only to two ideological extremes. Politico reported Tuesday that in the 2017 governor's race in New Jersey, neither Democrat Phil Murphy nor Republican Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno appear to be reaching out to voters outside their party's base. "Together, in one of the first statewide races of the Trump era, Democrat Phil Murphy and Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno are demolishing the conventional wisdom that centrists wi

One of the most interesting and important legal fights going on right now centers around the scope of the First Amendment rights of political parties. In a variety of contexts, the parties have asserted their rights over the rights of the people. How can it be, however, that the rights of parties formed by the people can trump the rights of the people, through their elected government or otherwise, to determine how their elections for their public officials can be organized? What are the right

On Sunday evening, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) told MSNBC's Kasie Hunt that Donald Trump may not run for reelection in 2020, and that if he does, he may face a 2020 GOP primary challenge. During the interview, Paul said it may be a year or two before Americans will know for sure whether Donald Trump will even be seeking reelection to the presidency: "Is President Trump running for reelection? I think you won’t know that until you get into sort of – second, third year of his presidency." Should T

Chad Peace, attorney for the Independent Voter Project, as well as 6 high-profile signatories, filed an amicus brief on September 22, 2017, in support of a legal challenge brought by Level the Playing Field (LPF). On October 13, Peace spoke about the brief and its significance to changing the exclusionary presidential debate rules on NBC7 in San Diego. "The brief argues that the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates' (CPD) 15 percent rule exacerbates the political divide in the US, lea

The San Diego City Council has a lot on its plate. From the debate over Short-Term vacation rentals, to the Hepatitis A outbreak and homeless crisis, several critical civic issues are coming to the surface for the city council to consider. Council President Pro Tem Mark Kersey joined the IVN San Diego Podcast this week to discuss a few of the pressing matters impacting the City. Kersey answered questions on a variety of subjects including the push to legalize short-term vacation rentals, the

Arguably, academia is as guilty as the media, the politicians, and the two major parties themselves, of promoting partisanship. This is, in large part, because political scientists analyze elections as a contest between Democrats and Republicans. Polls are designed and analyzed to explain or forecast red or blue victories. And even voting rights are scrutinized based on which of two political teams is advantaged or disadvantaged by a given law. But how can we continue to credibly analyze the c

The statement "all politicians are corrupt" has as much truth to it as "all Muslims are terrorists" and "all Christians are ignorant bigots." But here’s the trap in American politics: there’s one political party that makes nearly no attempt to disguise its duplicity. Many of them lie so badly and so often most of us are numb to it. The other political party does only a slightly better job representing the people. The trouble is, the average voter can no longer tell which is which. As a result