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Credit: senate.gov Key Senate races in Virginia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts could determine which party controls the Senate. Independent voters may be the most important voting blocs in all these races. VA Senate race between Tim Kaine (D) and George Allen (R) A race between two former governors in an important swing state shows how pivotal independents can be especially when it concerns the balance of power in the Senate. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) leaves behind an open seat that is the prize

Credit: dennishouse.wordpress.com Connecticut is a reliably Democratic state so it is surprising that Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon who lost badly two years ago in a Senate challenge is now leading this year's Senate race. Her biggest support comes from independents, who favor her 55-40%. Richard Blumenthal defeated McMahon by twelve points in the race for retiring Chris Dodd's Senate race in 2010. Yet a Quinnipiac Poll released Tuesday has McMahon ahead by 49-46 percent in her bid

Credit: LA Times The Republican platform committee pushed a number of anti-illegal immigration platform planks on Tuesday. On top of advocating a completed border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring employers to use a national E-Verify system when hiring new employees, the committee took a  stance against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. There haven’t been too many changes made from the 2008 GOP platform. The party is moving more to the right on several issues, including i

Credit: LA Times The Republican platform committee pushed a number of anti-illegal immigration platform planks on Tuesday. On top of advocating a completed border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring employers to use a national E-Verify system when hiring new employees, the committee took a stance against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. There haven’t been too many changes made from the 2008 GOP platform. The party is moving more to the right on several issues, including im

(Credit: Overdrive Interactive) IVN's Bianca Ciotti recently had the opportunity to interview George Scoville on the intersections of public policy, the election, and social media. George Scoville (Twitter) is an independent media strategist, political consultant, and public policy analyst who served as the Cato Institute's Manager of New Media from 2010 to 2011. The Cato Institute is a well known libertarian think tank which supports public policy that promotes limited government, free market

Is it  a good idea to put floating and underground nuclear power plants in ocean water that is already heating up, when these plants need large amounts of water for cooling? Even non-nuclear inland power plants are affected by drought and lack of usable water. During a recent heat waves, a power plant in Illinois had to shut down because it was overheating due to its cooling water intake pipe being blocked with dead fish killed by low water levels. They were delicious, by the way. And then th

Photo: sfcitizen.com The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, expected to be an important swing state in 2012, has made headlines all week for a controversial voter ID law backed by the state's Republicans. Critics are calling it a partisan ploy to restrict ballot access and fix the results of November's general election in favor of Republican candidates, including presumptive presidential nominee, Governor Mitt Romney. But on the same day that a judge ruled in favor of Pennsylvania's voter ID law, a

Compared to other presidential elections, 2008 was an exceptional year in voter participation. Many states saw turnout records broken during the primary election season. Some analysts considered this a high point in our democratic process, but it was far from a trend setter. Historically, turnout in primaries and caucuses have always been low. The highest turnouts are typically during the years where the presidential races are most competitive, such as 1988 and 2000, but even then turnout is on

Governor Rick Perry of Texas joins a list of growing states who say they will refuse to implement Medicaid expansion in their states. The one-time presidential hopeful stated yesterday, “If anyone was in doubt, we in Texas have no intention to implement so-called state exchanges or to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.” Gov. Rick Perry’s decision makes Texas the sixth state to opt out of Medicaid expansion so far. Texas joins Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Wisconsin in using

John Huntsman threw his two cents into the media cycle on Friday afternoon after announcing that he will not be attending the Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay this summer. The former presidential candidate joins a growing list of Republicans who are skipping the Republican National Convention. Republican Connecticut Senate candidate and former World Wrestling Entertainment executive, Linda McMahon, is passing on the gathering. Other candidates who have chosen to skip the convention