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The Democratic primary race appeared to be incredibly close during the Iowa caucus Monday night, where candidate Hillary Clinton reportedly won at least six precincts by way of a coin toss. While the caucus numbers led former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to drop out of the race, it left Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in a virtual tie in several precincts. Some precincts solved the tie by flipping a coin and various reports show that in at least six different cases, Clinton was declar

There has been an inordinate amount of press coverage dedicated to the term “anti-establishment” during this election cycle. But have we stopped to think about what exactly this word means? The term itself denotes a bifurcated world where wealthy, powerful elites (the “establishment”) are actively fighting any individuals who are striving to mitigate their financial and political hegemony (the “anti-establishment”). This year’s crop of presidential candidates apparently exist in a dichotomous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwRiuh1Cug Bernie Sanders may have released his most effective campaign ad to date, certainly one that will have people talking going into the February 1 Iowa Caucuses. No words are spoken, except for the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel's America, and the required authority line at the end, "I'm Bernie Sanders, and I approved this message." There is no condemnation of the billionaire class or big banks or campaign promises that can be taken with a grain of salt.

In recent news, Ohio state officials told Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley that he could not be on the Democratic primary ballot. The petition to be on the ballot required 1,000 valid signatures from a single county. O’Malley submitted 1,175, but only 772 were considered valid. Both of his fellow Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are on the ballot. Presidential primaries are often reserved only for partisan candidates, but that does not nec

Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson are currently two top contenders for the Republican nomination. Trump remains the leader with 35.6 percent of the polls, while Carson was in second but recently slid into fourth place behind Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Their popularity, however, stems from their outsider status as neither has held elected office before. Their recent entry into Republican politics has caused some to question their party loyalty--and rightfully so. Both candidates

The spirit of America is strong; the state of our union is fragile. That is my conclusion after 100 days driving 14,128 miles through 34 states as an independent candidate for President of the United States. I met with over 1,000 people individually and in small groups. I mostly stayed away from big cities and college campuses. I had learned on two short campaign trips before this long one that very few Americans understand there are independent candidates running for office so I got in the ha

The United States is often celebrated as the world’s leading example of representative government. However, we as a nation barely inspire half of our voters to show up for a national election—leaving U.S. voter participation among the lowest in the developed world. Americans don’t vote for a variety of reasons; however, one of the most common reasons is the growing frustration with our obtuse electoral process. From the arbitrary scheduling of primaries to the antiquated use of the Electoral Co

Bernie Sanders’ campaign was recently threatened with being locked out of the Democratic National Convention’s database—a devastating blow to any campaign, especially one buoyed by grassroots efforts. The penalty was in response to a Sanders staffer accessing data that was intended for the Hillary Clinton camp. Just days after this dustup, Sanders appeared on stage next to Clinton for the third debate of the primary season. Following what appeared to be a heavy handed penalty by the DNC, Sander

If there was ever a time for someone to step forward and run for president as an independent, now is the time! We had two independents leading in the polls for the Republican and Democratic nominations. Sure, Bernie Sanders is a socialist-leaning independent. I know he calls himself a Progressive, but he has been elected many times in Vermont as an independent. I do not know why he did not run as an independent. Then we have Donald Trump, a business/reality TV personality who is running as a Re

Enough signatures were collected in Colorado this month (with more than 60,000 to spare) to place a $25 billion tax increase on the ballot in 2016 to pay for a single-payer type insurance for the whole state. Vermont passed a similar measure several years ago, but lacked a funding mandate for the program, which has been derailed by politicians refusing (or at least stalling) on paying for the ballot-approved measure. Single-payer insurance was supposed to be one of the hallmark traits of the O