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It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Certainly pictures of candidates can be very important information in a voter’s decision process. But, unfortunately, a vast majority of voters have no idea what the candidates on their ballots look like, especially for State, county, and local offices. To get those pictures, many voters turn to the Internet. Recently, I had several shocking experiences regarding the pictures I found, or didn’t find, of candidates. The first incident was whe

Photo: blog.tsa.gov Over at the New York Times, reporter Scott Shane announces the beginning of a running dialogue about how to strike “the proper balance between liberty and security” more than a decade after the terror attacks of 9/11. I want to suggest, however, that framing the question the way Shane does, in terms of optimizing the “trade-off” between these competing values, begs the crucial question: Has there been a trade-off? Have all the billions of dollars and intrusive new surveillan

Credit: Purple Strategies Purple Poll July 2012 In a new Purple Poll released today, voters in 12 swing states diverge dramatically on their views of the country's economic trajectory. This overwhelmingly affects who they plan on casting their ballot for in November. "Among those who believe the economy is getting better, 93% support Obama, 4% favor Romney. And among those who say it is getting worse, Romney leads Obama 84% to 7%," says the Purple Strategies findings. This economic question i

As the primary season for the 2012 election has ended, all sides are now focused on the general election and the march to Election Day in November.  On that day, millions of Americans will go to their local polling place and cast a vote for President/Vice-President.  Some will choose the Democratic candidate, some will choose the Republican candidate, and some will choose a third-party candidate such as the Green Party or Libertarian Party.  When we walk out of those voting booths, we feel as if

Republican Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia has revoked his signature from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform pledge, and he isn’t the only one. Until recently the pledge had been signed by every Republican in, or wishing to be in, Congress. Now, just 45 of 83 of the Republican National Congressional Committee's current group of up-and-coming politicians, known as the “Young Guns”, have signed the no-tax pledge. By taking his name off the pledge in January, Rep. Rigell says his “advice and

Independence Day commemorates the Fourth of July, 1776, the date borne on the Declaration of Independence, by which representatives of "the thirteen united States of America" formally announced their irrevocable political separation from the government of Great Britain. The Declaration was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, but the ideas in it weren't his own. The document was a synthesis of political philosophy and ideas-- both European and very American-- that helped inspire th

Before 2008, Virginia had not voted for a Democrat to be president since 1964. The state is seen as a critical swing state in 2012 and there can be some useful insights gleaned from the 2008 exit polls and by reflecting on the changes that have happened since then.  Virginia has differences from the rest of the United States in several respects: * In 2008, Virginia had a greater share of African-Americans but a smaller proportion of Latinos. In general, each group was slightly more conservativ

Today the Supreme Court upheld the health care reform's Affordable Care Act. As is to be predicted, politicians had strong reactions both for and against the act. President Obama’s main rival in the November elections, Republican Mitt Romney, lead the pack with talk of repealing the act: “What the Court did today was say that Obama care did not violate the Constitution. They did not say that it is good law or good policy. If we want to get rid of Obama care, we are going to have to replace Pre

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, has yet to announce the selection of his vice president candidate. Such an announcement is not expected before the Republican National Convention. Yet that doesn't keep plenty of political observers from discussing and speculating who the eventual nominee will be. Washington Post's The Fix and Google have recently teamed up to track news mentions, search trends and YouTube video views for 10 of the most frequently mentioned potential cand

In terms of bizarre twists, last week, a lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California – entitled Delegates To The Republican National Convention vs. Republican National Committee [SACV 12- 00927 DOC (JPRx)]. The Paul campaign is keeping its distance for good reason – it is a very flawed suit. The United States District Court Judge in this action is David O. Carter, a no-nonsense judge and a former prosecutor. While the Republican delegate selection pr