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Midterm Ads Test Messages with Help From Pollsters, Stretch Truth
During Clinton’s uphill re-election campaign in 1996, the president relied heavily on the aid of pollsters. With the help of strategists such as Doug Schoen, Dick Morris, and Mark Penn, the presi...
Lobbyists Spend over $3 Billion a Year to Influence Legislation
In American folklore, it is President Grant who coined the term “lobbyists” to designate those influence peddlers who attempted to bribe him with whiskey and cigars during his jaunts to the Willard Ho...
Will Rand Paul's Stance on Immigration Reform Hurt Him in 2016?
In June, the junior Republican senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, weighed in on the always controversial issue of immigration reform. The libertarian-leaning darling of the tea party tread into precari...
How Professional Journalism Reinforces Partisanship
It is quite well known by now that there is two-party dominance in the United States because of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) -- or plurality -- electoral system. Third parties can have an unintended...
Psychological Effects of Poverty Just As Bad As Physical
For the 46.5 million Americans living below the poverty line, 16 million of which are children, life has become a consistent struggle. This struggle does not simply begin and end with monetary concern...
VA Scandal One More Problem of Accountability for Obama Administration
The hits just keep coming for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. For weeks, stories of the deplorable policies and procedures in place at VA Medical Centers across the country have continued to...
Reforming the Electoral College to Be More Inclusive to Voters
The way we elect the president and vice president in the U.S. is quite unique compared to the way we elect every other elected office. We don't elect them directly. Instead, we vote for electors who t...
Madison's Religious Test: The Supreme Court vs the Non-Cognizance Doctrine
As anyone who has read my book knows, I do not consider “original intent” a legitimate principle of Constitutional interpretation. Constitutions, like most laws, are the products of compromise and neg...
5 States Likely to Become Battleground States by 2016
Presidential politics are all about numbers, from campaign spending, third party interest funding, and electoral votes (EV). Battleground states, by definition, shift the winning side every 4 years or...
Crowded GOP Field Divides Big Money Donors in West Virginia House Election
Seven Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent have stepped up to claim the West Virginian House seat U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-02) is vacating for a shot at the Senate.The Ho...