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Let’s be clear here. Major-party primaries in the US are absurd. Parties in most countries select their nominees privately and pay for it on their own dime. That’s not surprising either considering that political parties are private organizations. In the US, however, parties do their primaries publicly. That may sound nice, but as private organizations, US parties get to make their own rules. These rules conveniently include who gets to vote and how those votes are counted. The benefits to ma

In June, I watched donald trump in New Hampshire speak at a campaign appearance in a big home before an all-white audience. (donald trump appears in lower case, as I refuse to accord him the dignity he routinely refuses others, but in doing so, I extend my apologies to e e cummings.) I watched his show courtesy of MSNBC, which astonishingly covered it live – all of it. Trump in his Live Free or Die campaign stop was my first indication that MSNBC, ostensibly the “liberal” cable network, would

The voter turnout in the Wisconsin primaries Tuesday surpassed expectations and broke records. Around 1.1 million voters turned out in the Republican primary while 1 million showed up on the Democratic side. It was the highest primary turnout in the state in decades. The 49% voter turnout smashed the 40% projection made by the Government Accountability Board, even beating the 47.7% turnout of 1972 when George McGovern (D) and Richard Nixon (R) won their respective primaries. The only state wit

A new report found that some Democratic superdelegates are also registered lobbyists. In the Democratic Party’s presidential primary process, superdelegates are party insiders who are allowed to vote for the candidate of their personal preference rather than on the basis of caucus or primary vote totals. While many superdelegate appointments are given to party activists and former and current elected officials, some have also been given to donors, including lobbyists. According to ABC News’ an

If anything can be said about the current presidential primary season, it's been dramatic -- from Trump swaying the GOP electorate with blustering rhetoric to the tight contest between Sanders and Clinton on the Democratic side. And a recent survey shows that all the excitement has driven voters to the polls in numbers rarely seen in a primary race. The Pew Research Center confirms that both Democrats and Republicans are seeing higher than usual turnout during this primary season. The Democrats

Many authors and commenters on IVN clearly believe that it is wrong for any party, or any state law, to prevent independent voters from voting in a government-administered primary for public office. I am personally undecided about that issue. It would help me to think clearly about this issue if someone will write an article for IVN that explains the philosophical objections some voters have to being required to join a party before they can vote in its primary for public office. I understand co

Following the weekend's primaries and the upcoming votes on Tuesday, many eyes remain fixed on a presidential candidate who has been highly touted, but has delivered few victories, leading to concerns about his campaign's viability. Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a candidate lauded as the future of the Republican Party, has failed to break through in this election cycle. As more critical elections approach, the senator could be left questioning the justification for his campaign. On Super T

Analyses of policy proposals from Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders estimate that their proposals would increase the national debt by about $8 to $30 trillion between 2016 and 2026. According to information the Washington Post and the New York Times recently published, this is how much each candidate would add to the debt: * Rubio - $8.2 trillion * Cruz - $10.2 trillion * Trump - $11.2 - $15 trillion * Sanders - $19 - $30 trillion The Republican Reality Disconnect T

In Illinois, a judge is expected to rule whether one of the top Republican challengers to Donald Trump is eligible to run for president. Born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father, the matter of Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for president has long been an issue. Throughout his political career, Cruz has consistently maintained that he is eligible to run for president by being born to an American abroad. In January, Poplar Grove lawyer Lawrence J. Joyce filed a complaint with the I

With Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada now in the books for the 2016 Democratic primary, one thing has been certain: the pollsters aren't doing a good job of predicting their outcomes. Modern polling science is pretty accurate -- we don't see too many President Dewey mistakes at this point. But at the same time, almost all of the major polling prior to each contest has turned out highly inaccurate, and at times way outside of even the margin of errors. Take, for instance, the Nevada caucus. The