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1. Albuquerque Journal says open primaries are something Democrats and Republicans can agree on. "More than one in five voters in New Mexico declined to state a party when registering to vote. About 38 percent of registered voters ages 18 to 24 fall into that category. And because many candidates in New Mexico face no opposition beyond the primary, the winner is often declared before independents get a chance in weigh in." While the Journal is only advocating for "limited primary reform," the

This was 23-year-old Khadija al-Saadi on Gawker Wednesday: “[A flight] landed at Mitiga military airport in Libya just over a decade ago. [It] was organized by the CIA and MI6. On board were a family of six surrounded by guards, the frightened children separated from their parents, the father chained to a seat in a rear compartment with a needle stuck in his arm. I was 12 years old, and was trying to keep my younger brothers and my six year-old sister calm. The guards took us to see our mother

How many times have we heard variations of the following soundbites from enterprising political candidates: “My business experience has prepared me to be an effective leader.” “Because of my business experience, I know how to balance a budget, not spend more money than I have, and create jobs.” “It’s time to apply good business practices to Washington.” Etcetera. Etcetera. Voters could recite them as thoughtlessly as a child singing an advertisement jingle. Yet, for all the repetition, these st

...measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.  --James Madison, The Federalist #10 Author's note: The purpose of this article is primarily to provide the historical basis for investigating systems of proportional representation, a democratic voting system designed to level the playing field and represent the maximum percentage of voters. When only 87 of the 471 (18

Despite consistently low approval ratings of Congress, candidates outside the Democratic and Republican parties have faced an uphill battle gaining enough exposure and credibility to get elected. Since 1877 (the end of Reconstruction), there have been 111 third party or independent candidates elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 1949 (the Modern Era), there have only been six. How many independents are sitting in the House today? Zero. That’s right, zero. All 432 current represe

We like to believe that money isn't everything when it comes to match-ups in the general election, but in reality it can be a pretty good indicator of who will be the last ones standing come November 4.The U.S. Senate race in Kansas is grabbing national attention as independent candidate Greg Orman gains serious ground on the major party candidates. Kansas has been considered a safe, solid-red state since Senator George McGill (D) lost his re-election bid in 1938. What is unusual about the 201

1. Opinion piece in the Montgomery Advertiser advocates adopting a nonpartisan, top-two open primary system in Alabama. "Even more importantly, however, this eliminates the unfair choices that some voters have to make under the current system. Because they can only vote in one party's primary, voters are sometimes forced to choose between voting in a local race contested in one primary or a district or statewide race contested in the other primary." Alabama currently has an open partisan prima

During Clinton’s uphill re-election campaign in 1996, the president relied heavily on the aid of pollsters. With the help of strategists such as Doug Schoen, Dick Morris, and Mark Penn, the president identified the concerns and personalities of swing voters (such as whether they preferred the TV shows Friends or Home Improvement) and sampled slogans -- even entire paragraphs of speeches -- in order to discover how to appeal to them. In the midst of this re-branding of the president and the stra

1. An opinion piece in the News Leader argues that Virginia should not indulge partisan calls to close the state's primaries after Eric Cantor lost his seat. Interestingly enough, one of the biggest names leading the charge to change state law to allow closed primaries is former Virginia Lt. Governor Bill Bolling. Bolling suspended his campaign for the 2013 gubernatorial election in November 2012 because the state GOP decided to change the method of nomination from a primary election to a conve

In American folklore, it is President Grant who coined the term “lobbyists” to designate those influence peddlers who attempted to bribe him with whiskey and cigars during his jaunts to the Willard Hotel in exchange for political favors. The term, in fact, is much older -- as is the practice itself. In 1792, for instance, veterans of the Continental Army from Virginia sent one William Hull to Washington, D.C. to petition for higher compensation. Lobbying went unregulated until 1946, when Congr