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In recent news, Ohio state officials told Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley that he could not be on the Democratic primary ballot. The petition to be on the ballot required 1,000 valid signatures from a single county. O’Malley submitted 1,175, but only 772 were considered valid. Both of his fellow Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are on the ballot. Presidential primaries are often reserved only for partisan candidates, but that does not nec

Though the first caucuses and primaries are still weeks away, Hillary Clinton already has a significant lead in the race for the Democratic Party's nomination. According to a survey conducted by the Associated Press in November, in which more than 80 percent of the party's 712 superdelegates stated which candidate they plan to support at the convention in Philadelphia, 359 said they would be supporting Clinton, compared to just 8 for Bernie Sanders and 2 for Martin O'Malley (210 said they were

The spirit of America is strong; the state of our union is fragile. That is my conclusion after 100 days driving 14,128 miles through 34 states as an independent candidate for President of the United States. I met with over 1,000 people individually and in small groups. I mostly stayed away from big cities and college campuses. I had learned on two short campaign trips before this long one that very few Americans understand there are independent candidates running for office so I got in the ha

According to new analysis conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, re-election pressures influence judges into doling out harsher penalties in criminal cases. The study examines what role judicial candidates' records in criminal cases play in campaigns and what impact these campaigns have on a judge's decision-making.State judges decide the outcome of most criminal cases. The report explains that 94 percent of all felony convictions occur in state courts where the judge

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,

A good share of politics-related content from the mainstream media (i.e., mass media outlets that convey content shaped by dominant thinking, influences, and activities) deals with predicting the future. Politicians, pundits, commentators, and experts -- both real and self-professed -- are an endless fountain of confident predictions about what political policies will make America and the American people safe, strong, and prosperous. As usual, the left and right argue for starkly different poli

It is no secret that the two major parties in the U.S have actively worked to rig the election system for their own benefit and so they can drown out any independent voices. I was reminded of this fact earlier this year when the Florida legislature was unable to come up with a new district map after the previous one was found to be illegal. Inspired by my home state, I want to shed light on a few other obstacles the parties put in front of our democracy. Things like... Gerrymandering. It used t

On October 20, shortly after the Democratic presidential debate, former U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) decided to withdraw from the 2016 Democratic primary. If your first thought is bewilderment over who Jim Webb is, it only highlights how the media has overlooked this presidential candidate. Jim Webb is acutely aware of the current percentage of independent voters to Democrats and Republicans, and not only in the interests of a possible run as an independent candidate. He knows that it is the i

Earlier this year, now-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders proposed a bill to spend $1 trillion over a five-year period in order to "rebuild America’s crumbling network of roads, bridges and transit systems." Yet his refrain about the need to repair the nation's "crumbling infrastructure" invites the basic question, just how bad is America's infrastructure? The most comprehensive and authoritative diagnosis comes from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Its 2013 report card assess

Anti-BDS resolutions, legislation, and advocacy claim that BDS is the main influence on an 'alarming rise in anti-Semitism.' Is there a rise in anti-Semitism, and is the cause the BDS movement?, Jewish citizens in the U.S. are most likely to be victimized by religious hate crimes. Religious hate crimes make up 17% of all hate crimes, and 60% of those are aimed at Jewish citizens. According to FBI statistics Many polls measuring anti-Semitism have come out recently. Most shocking is the Anti-De