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To better understand how presidential debates really work, it might help to frame the operation in business terms. As competitors begin positioning themselves for the 2020 presidential race, they may need to adapt to a change in the procedures. The path to the all-important televised presidential debates may be forcibly smoothed out by a US District Court Judge so that candidates outside one of the nation's two large franchise parties have better access to the microphone. The election may seem

On Monday, March 12 at 8 pm ET, hundreds of people will dial into Independent Voting’s national conference call. Jackie Salit, president of Independent Voting, hosts these calls, and I wanted to extend a personal invitation to you to join me on the call. I’ve had the honor of organizing these calls and invite thousands of independent voters (and independent-minded Americans) to join me at what I think is one of the most important ongoing political events in the country. The conference call tak

In the study of migration patterns, scholars often times point to different “push” and “pull” factors that have influenced migration trends over time. Historically, the free market structure of the United States’ economy, combined with its stable democracy has been a very strong “pull” factor that has enticed millions of families (including my own) to immigrate here from various corners of the earth. Conversely, dysfunctional governments that have proven unable to serve their people have histo

For me, history, the study of it and the making of it, has been an essential part of life. Growing up in the underground of the poor black community, reading became my salvation, and reading about great historical developments, as well as hearing the soul stirring voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the radio, was my inspiration. I remember the first black history class I took in college and the professor asking the students why they had chosen the course, I said I wanted to understand why

The fourth estate is a term you used to hear more often in reference to American politics. These days, it has to be explained. It's not a hard concept. The media takes responsibility for sharing objective information with the American people so that they can make informed decisions. Perhaps the reason we don’t hear that term so much anymore is because our news media is failing. Liberal media outlets may have mentioned Donald Trump’s retweets of nationalist group Britain First’s Islamaphobic co

Virginia Independent Voters Association Director Steve Richardson wrote an op-ed in The Virginian-Pilot Thursday in support of a new bill that would reform state primaries to a nonpartisan, top-two open primary similar to California and Washington state. "THANKS TO Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, the Virginia General Assembly has an opportunity to return our commonwealth to its historical role as a leader of democracy. He has introduced a bill, HB1129, that would establish a truly open primary. In

Update: The Senate voted Monday to reopen the government, and extend funding until February 8, setting up yet another potential shutdown fight. The recent government shutdown is only the latest manifestation of the partisan logjam gripping America, and sure not to be the last. All the political rhetoric over the past few years — ever since the rise of the Tea Party and the subsequent focus on emotions over results — has been driving us to this point, and it was obvious. Sadly, it may have also

With the new year, begins a new legislative session. Legislators have the opportunity to use this time to introduce bills to empower voters in their state. Ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to expand as new bills have been introduced in the Missouri, Virginia, Indiana and Utah legislatures. On Jan. 3 Missouri State Representative Dan Stacey introduced HB 1346: Requires all state and federal offices to use ranked choice voting, adding one new section relating to ranked choice voting. The prov

Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul is no stranger to election reform. He has championed a number of legislative efforts to improve elections in the past, and has introduced a new package of election reforms for the upcoming legislative session. Rasoul has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since January 2014, and represents the 11th District, which makes up a part of Roanoke. He is the only Muslim member of the Virginia General Assembly. His latest proposed reforms include the creation of a n

American voters who have remained in the two-party system are more partisan than ever before and they're saying so in public opinion polls every year: "Surveys over time have used a 100-point thermometer scale to rate how voters feel toward each other, from cold to warm. Democrats and Republicans have been giving lower and lower scores — more cold shoulder — to the opposite party. By 2008, the average rating for members of the other party was barely above 30. That’s significantly worse than how