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Historically, presidential races have come down to only a handful of toss-up states being the difference between victory and defeat -- the red/blue map has become fairly well-defined. Enter John Bel Edwards (D) who won the governorship of Louisiana on November 21 by a fairly resounding margin, capturing 54 percent of the vote. State governorships can give a glimpse into the 'at-large' intentions of a state, but this is hardly a sure thing in politics. Louisiana has a long history, since WWII,

The Independent Voter Project (IVP) hosted its 2015 Business and Leadership Policy Conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Maui. The conference brought together California lawmakers from both political parties, industry professionals, and policy experts to discuss issues that greatly affect lawmakers, businesses, and state residents. IVP has taken heat from the press for holding this annual conference in Hawaii, which they argue is away from the public's eye and media scrutiny. The LA Times, for ex

On Veterans Day 2015, many of the nation's veterans are looking to the large presidential field to lay out their plans for veterans programs in the U.S., something that did not happen during Tuesday's GOP debate. Continuing to ignore the nation's 21 million veterans is not going to win any candidate votes and may lose them the White House. Veteran voters tend to support more Republican candidates than Democrats, because historically Republicans have always favored a larger, stronger military, w

Why I Gave Up Meat I remember the day I decided that I would become a vegetarian. It came while watching the documentary Life in a Day – in particular, the scene in which a cow receives two shots to its skull from a bolt gun (the first one didn’t kill the cow and only made it panic and flail in its narrow metal pen). The scene lasted only a minute, but it haunted me long after the lights in the theater had come back on. I wasn’t naïve: I knew animals had to be killed to be made into meat, and

Dr. Lynn Kahn describes herself as a sort of government mechanic. Her experience stems from her undergraduate work in psychology and her doctoral work in group dynamics of peacemaking. “Early on, I focused on group dynamics. The psychology work in group dynamics and organizational change just kind of built on each other," Dr. Kahn said in an interview for IVN. Immediately after her doctoral work, she started her career in government as an organizational consultant with a specialty in group dyn

There was general consensus among the public that Carly Fiorina won the first GOP "happy hour" debate and the poll numbers showed it. Now, even with high poll numbers, Fiorina is at risk of being relegated to CNN's undercard debate in September. "Despite being solidly in the top 10 by every measure, the political establishment is still rigging the game to keep Carly off the main debate stage next month," Fiorina's deputy campaign manager, Sarah Isgur Flores writes. According to Fiorina campaig

We hear it all the time. It is probably one of the most discussed issues in American politics -- money and its influence. Why does money have such power in our electoral and governing processes? (According to a June 2015 New York Times / CBS News Poll, 84% believe money has too much influence.) The answer is actually quite simple. The reason is staring at us from the mirror. We, the voters, allow it. Power can be the result of position. Elected officials at all levels have power because of the

While a majority of Americans - 52 percent - now favor weed legalization, the federal government has done very little to act on the changing views of the nation. Many states, however, have taken matters into their own hands, passing legislation to better represent the changing attitudes of their residents. Today, 4 states - Oregon, Colorado, Washington, and Alaska - plus our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, 24 states have legalized medical ma

In June, Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, made waves in the world of political punditry when he suggested in a letter to the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee that the party should sanction more primary debates, and that some of those debates should even include Republican candidates for the presidency. Paul Singer of USA Today wrote at the time that “Sanders said inter-party debates would show a clear co

It is time for America to rethink its position on grass. While one notorious weed commands attention from the media, the government, and the public, another less assuming grass is quietly exacerbating some of America’s most pressing issues — without any partisan baggage.Since the advent of the suburbs, American homes have featured green, manicured lawns -- as much a staple in the imagery of the American Dream as white picket fences, mailboxes, and smiling children. But with drought, air pollut