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Upon securing the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year, several commentators noted that Donald Trump was realigning American politics. Through that realignment, economic nationalism, less intervention in foreign affairs, and restrictions on immigration could define the Republican Party. If Trump loses the election, a key question will be whether his platform will continue in the Republican Party or elsewhere. If somewhere else, one potential outlet for his supporters may be the

Last Monday, FairVote released our 2016 general election presidential campaign tracker. This tracker, which has been regularly used this fall by National Popular Vote, looks at where major party candidates for president and vice-president have been rallying their supporters at events that are open to the public, free and intended to influence local voters. Our data for the tracker is based on local news reports and the campaigns’ public schedules. As anyone familiar with current Electoral Colle

A Failure of the People I sincerely believe that America has lost its way. In a nation built for a government by the people and for the people, I blame -- The People. The U.S. lacks leadership from local to national levels. We lack leaders because The People have abandoned their governing responsibility for decades. When you go to vote, you will most likely see offices running candidates with no opposition. The People blame many things for their apathy, but the fact is, when The People act thi

© 2016 by reclaimtheamericandream.org. The article was written by Hedrick Smith, executive editor of reclaimtheamericandream.org. Washington –  Super PACs are once again breaking records  – topping $1.1 billion – but there’s a new wrinkle. Instead of aiming their main financial artillery at the presidential race, Super PACs, political parties and outside donors have committed more than half a billion dollars to the battle for control of the Senate – more money than they’re spending on the race

Why stick with third party and independent candidates in November, if Clinton and Trump have a combined 80% of the electorate in all major polls? In an election season that is anything but usual, one trend is holding up: outside campaigns are losing support in the last months of the race. The campaigns of Libertarian candidate Gov. Gary Johnson, Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, independent candidate Dr. Lynn S. Kahn, and Veterans Party candidate Chris Keniston responded to a short question

Understandably, readers of the IVN pride themselves on their status as… well… independent voters. Voters are jettisoning the Democratic and Republican Parties faster than you can say “record high unfavorable ratings.” However, ditching the two-party system isn’t enough; it’s high time that we start joining and registering with third parties. Now, this is the moment where I encourage you to put down the pitchforks, and hear me out. Though IVN champions the mantra of “people over parties,” regis

On Tuesday, Trump revealed details of his child care and maternity leave plans during a speech in Pennsylvania. Of particular interest is the idea of extending unemployment benefits for maternity leave. While this might 'sound' like a plausible idea, it's a plan that would complicate an already overburdened state system of unemployment insurance, threatening the foundations of the program itself. The Federal-State Unemployment Insurance Program provides benefits to workers who become unemploye

Breaking the Frame of Respect To solve societal problems, we need civil discourse, and effective reasoning. Reasoning and civil discourse cannot be had without respect. In order to function with respect, a discourse requires two things: personal dignity, including personal space and freedom from dehumanization (or the devaluation of one's inherent worth), and acknowledgement of the positive attributes in others' positions. Once the frame of respect has been betrayed, two behaviors are sure to

There's an axiom in polling that goes back to 1936. If you expect to win the presidency, you'd better be polling well as September begins. Nobody really 'likes' to admit that polling is as good of a science as it is; it tends to undermine our sense of control and autonomy -- that less than 1,000 people polled can represent the population of 146 million or so voters in the United States. But that's the nature of statistics -- as well as the numbers being criticized for any number of reasons. B

As with past election cycles, third party and independent candidates – as well as initiatives aimed at reducing the power of the two major parties – are struggling to achieve access to general election ballots. In some cases, this is the result of general apathy toward specific parties, candidates, or reforms. In other cases, however, their exclusion from the ballot stems from a variety of causes, including minor technicalities, official ineptitude, constitutionally dubious legal barriers, and,