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Hate Gerrymandering? Let’s Start Voting in Primaries
Hate Gerrymandering? Let’s Start Voting in Primaries
Responding to pressure from President Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Republican-controlled legislature are moving forward with a plan to redraw their district lines in advance of the 2026 midterms. Democrats are contemplating how to fight back and blunt any gains the GOP makes in Texas by conducting their own gerrymanders in New York, Illinois, and California.  
07 Aug, 2025
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4 min read
From Relief to Rage: $100M FireAid Concert Engulfed in Political Scandal
From Relief to Rage: $100M FireAid Concert Engulfed in Political Scandal
It seems we can’t even have a $100 million benefit concert without inviting partisan bickering. What began as an urgent and well-intentioned philanthropic effort to help victims of two catastrophic fires has turned into another political fight between the two major political parties.
05 Aug, 2025
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10 min read
Beyond Ranked Choice Voting: How We Count The Votes Matters
Beyond Ranked Choice Voting: How We Count The Votes Matters
Ranked choice voting keeps winning headlines. New York City uses it in primaries, Maine uses it statewide, Alaska uses it with a nonpartisan primary, and advocates from Better Choices are pushing for more consensus.
24 Jul, 2025
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5 min read
How It Really Works: The Unfair Fight Between Legal Cannabis and Unregulated 'Gas‑Station' Hemp
How It Really Works: The Unfair Fight Between Legal Cannabis and Unregulated 'Gas‑Station' Hemp
When President Richard Nixon told the nation on June 17, 1971, that drug abuse was “public enemy number one,” he formally launched the War on Drugs and cemented cannabis in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. 
22 Jul, 2025
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10 min read
Will Politics Kill Late Night TV?
Will Politics Kill Late Night TV?
Stephen Colbert’s Late Show is ending after nearly a decade at the top of the ratings. CBS insists this is a financial decision. Of course, everyone else is wondering if something more political may be at play. And the President of the United States is celebrating the news. Donald Trump took to Truth Social to cheer Colbert's upcoming exit.
18 Jul, 2025
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3 min read
Just Say No: The Political Hit Job That Killed Cannabis
Just Say No: The Political Hit Job That Killed Cannabis
As cannabis use became more common in the late 1970s, the backlash grew even stronger. A political and religious conservative resurgence was underway after years of liberal ascendancy. That wave would soon bring former California Governor Ronald Reagan to the White House.
18 Jul, 2025
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8 min read
Mamdani, Lander, and Other Partisan Extremists Just Took a Bite Out of NYC’s Democracy
Mamdani, Lander, and Other Partisan Extremists Just Took a Bite Out of NYC’s Democracy
The partisans, unions, and party bosses have won again. Independents, veterans, working people, young people and democracy have lost again. 
18 Jul, 2025
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2 min read
The Seventies: High Times with Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown
The Seventies: High Times with Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown
In the years that followed President Richard Nixon’s crackdown on pot and eventual resignation, state and local governments began to push the envelope to reform cannabis laws.
17 Jul, 2025
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5 min read
5 Influential Forces in NYC that Threaten the Success of Open Primaries
5 Influential Forces in NYC that Threaten the Success of Open Primaries
New York City’s Charter Revision Commission (CRC) is considering a proposal to adopt a nonpartisan “Top Two” open primary system, which would allow the city’s 1.1 million independent voters to cast a ballot in primary elections they pay for.
14 Jul, 2025
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13 min read
'Why Am I Doing This?': Don Bacon’s Retirement Reflects a Congress Driving Out Problem Solvers
'Why Am I Doing This?': Don Bacon’s Retirement Reflects a Congress Driving Out Problem Solvers
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) recently announced his retirement from Congress, but the reasons he cites for his departure underscore a growing problem in Washington -- specifically, a rejection of problem solving in favor of division, partisan gamesmanship, and provocation.
09 Jul, 2025
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4 min read