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IVN – Obama Focusing Fundraising Efforts on CA After trailing Romney in fundraising, Obama’s re-election campaign has focused its attention on the Golden State for fundraising. The campaign has been pulling their largest amounts of funds from Hollywood and Silicon Valley. WSJ – Investors Fleeing Spanish Bonds in Wake of Bailout Plan Spain has accepted a $125B bailout to recapitalize its banks as fears rise that the whole country would be dragged down with its failing lenders. Investors are he

Independent candidates seeking public office generally face tougher hurdles than their partisan counterparts. A recent federal court ruling, which gives non-partisan candidates more time to collect signatures to qualify for the November ballot, will help level the playing field in Montana. Last week, U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon blocked Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch from enforcing a March filing deadline for independent candidates. However, it remains unclear whether Haddon's

Stories we're following from around the web... SLATE - Gay Marriage Challenged in MD Maryland Conservatives have collected double the required 55,000+ signatures required to put an anti-gay marriage referendum on their November ballot. MD legislators had passed a law that would have allowed gay marriage in the state beginning in 2013. LA Times - TX Republican Senate Primary Needs Run-Off Neither Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Tea Party Member Ted Cruz gather a majority of votes in yesterday’s primary

One of the most enduring myths in US politics is the assertion that there are no alternatives to the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties. Many would-be voters who are fed up with the forced choice between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dumber are undoubtedly more likely not to vote than head to the polls and cast their ballot for a third party or Independent alternative. Given the lack of media coverage devoted to third party and Independent candidates, a large portion of the electorate

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which created an environment of unbridled campaign financing through the funding of Super PACs, is now being challenged on at least four fronts.  In all cases, the challengers believe that the current atmosphere for campaign financing weakens independent voices in the electorate and strengthens a powerful few special interests. Three of the challenges were precipitated by a Montana Supreme Court finding that the state’s legislative ban on corporate

Directed by the Obama Administration to abandon a proposed change to its regulatory code, the Labor Department has announced that it will not enforce new rules designed to limit the type of work minors can perform on family farms. Last December, the U.S. Department of Labor announced its updated proposal to ban children younger than 16 from using power-driven farm equipment. For those under the age of 18, the proposal would have prohibited employment in country grain elevators, grain bins, silo

Ballot access requirements shall be the same for every candidate, irrespective of party affiliation. Equal access includes access to debates. This shall also apply to initiatives and referenda, and to primary elections. No state shall be eligible to receive federal funding in any amount or form absent its implementation of this provision in time for 2012 and thereafter. - - - - - - - The most severe obstacle to fully-representative elections is the two-party tyranny tacit agreement to block al

While most Republicans, according to recent polls, are adamantly opposed to a brokered convention, given the new party nominating rules it is highly unlikely that the primary process will be wrapped up quickly. Newt Gingrich predicted at this weekend's California Republican Convention that the presidential primary season may well extend to California, putting the state's 172 delegates into play in June. 2012 could host an unusually prolonged primary season for a presidential race in recent his

Voter turnout in the United States is disturbingly low. In the 2008 presidential election, voter turnout was higher than it had been in a generation, but barely 60% of eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot. In non-presidential election years, the numbers are even worse, with over 60% of eligible voters opting not to vote. Given these dismal numbers, one would think that states across the country would seek to implement policies that would encourage participation in the electoral process. Ins

In 1963 The New York Times began a national edition. As an inveterate reader of newspapers having The Times available in California was exciting (I was then working for the San Francisco Chronicle and living in Marin County). When the initial national edition failed as a publishing venture, I was disappointed. In truth, it wasn’t much, and nothing compared to the newspaper we now read. Subsequently, as a press aide to Robert F. Kennedy in the presidential campaign of 1968, and later press secr