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With Jeb Bush's dismal finish in South Carolina comes his long overdue exit from the 2016 Republican primary contest for the presidency. While this was expected, and possibly even encouraged by the establishment to weed down candidates for Super Tuesday, there is a greater significance to Jeb's departure: you still can't buy elections in the United States. The Citizens United SCOTUS ruling has been used as a warning -- a warning against plutocrats and the ability of the super-wealthy to outrig

Three establishment candidates remain standing in the GOP race — Kasich, Rubio, and Bush. Reince Priebus needs two of them to drop out soon, or he and the other GOP establishment pooh-bahs may be faced with Donald Trump winning the GOP nomination with just 30-something percent support of voting Republicans. How is this possible? The RNC has engineered the primary process to be dominated by winner-take-all contests, presumably to avoid brokered conventions. While the early contests are proportio

I am not a “numbers guy,” but from baseball to politics, numbers fascinate me. Following the Iowa Caucuses, I wrote about the fact that the national media had OD'd on a state unworthy of their time, attention, and money. The percentage of registered Republicans who voted for the GOP's 11 candidates was 17.6, while only 15.8 percent of registered Democrats voted for Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders.That means only 16.7 percent of Iowa’s 2,141,725 registered Republicans and Democrats partic

The "money bomb," a term that took on new meaning during Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign when he raised over $4.2 million in 24 hours (Paul's biggest money bomb ended up being $6 million), is a short, online-driven political fundraising push that centers around a specific event or date. It has become a crucial component of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign arsenal. A Sanders campaign spokesman told reporters Wednesday that in the hours following the New Hampshire primary (18 hours to

John Kasich (R) was ultimately fighting for first or second place in the New Hampshire primary. He'd put all of his organizational 'eggs' into the basket, and came out with the expected second place finish that most polls had him in a 3- to 4-way tie. The 'shocker' for Tuesday night was that both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders came close to (or in Trump's case exceeded) polling expectations, while the rest of the pack, except Kasich, did remarkably worse. Both Trump and Sanders swept every co

Not long after polls closed in New Hampshire Tuesday night, Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders were declared the winners of their respective primary contests. As of the publication of this article, Sanders secured 59% of the Democratic primary vote while Trump won a commanding victory with 34%. Looking at New Hampshire polls, the results aren't a huge surprise. The last polls leading up to primary day showed Sanders with a double-digit lead over Clinton. Trump has dominated the Republ

If an individual chooses, of his own volition, to refrain from the use of certain words, phrases, or characterizations that have in the past been part of his or her political discourse, on whom should the responsibility for that constraint — essentially an act of self-censorship — rest? Should the individual himself accept responsibility for actions he takes of his own free will, or should he — in what essentially is an act of self-victimization — seek to blame someone or something else? For m

This week, President Obama delivered his seventh and last State of the Union address. Regardless of where one stands on his policies/politics, he gives one hell of a speech. Post-game analysis was fairly predictable. Republicans panned it policy-wise while Democrats were falling all over themselves with praise. It was, to me, reminiscent of President Reagan’s final SOTU, the wrapping up of two terms in a nice package. This is a compliment to both men. The traditional “other party” -- in this c

Fox News released its lineup for Thursday’s GOP debate on Monday night, announcing that the stage will hold seven candidates, cutting Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina from the lineup. In preparation for the primetime debate, which will air at 9 p.m. ET, Fox Business Network reportedly selected its lineup based off of the top six candidates in the five most recent national polls, as well as any candidates polling in the top five in either Iowa or New Hampshir

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