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The Republican primary race stretches on. None of the current candidates appear willing to drop out. At the same time, none of the candidates appear on track to accrue the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the party's nomination prior to the Republican National Convention in June. That leaves us on track for a contested and/or brokered convention. It's a politico's dream scenario and would be the first such event since 1952. Recall the television networks complaining during past election cycles

Among those who advocate for the “modernization” of our voting systems, internet-based electronic voting and registration platforms are often offered as an ideal solution to the problems inherent in our current registration and voting processes. A newly published paper describes the ease with which a small group of researchers was able to hack a Washington D.C. based internet voting pilot project, demonstrating that these new systems are not ready for take-off. In 2010, the Washington D.C. Board

Politico February 9: On the campaign trail... Newt Gingrich (Republican): Yesterday, Newt Gingrich finished up his Ohio bus tour, with his next appearance tomorrow at the CPAC convention in Washington D.C. He has big plans for next week, as he already has eight fundraisers planned in California. Gingrich's strategy departs from his Republican rivals, in that he ignored the trio of states that voted on Tuesday and has been directing his focus to Super Tuesday. He has been keeping quiet and opte

The Republican Party's presidential primary race may prove to be a breeding ground for third party and Independent presidential candidates in the 2012 election.  There are no less than four current contenders for the GOP's presidential nomination who may run for president as a third party or Independent candidate:  Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Jon Huntsman and Buddy Roemer.  And, given the success of Americans Elect in its ongoing effort to obtain ballot access in all fifty states, we may see any num

The Solar Energy Industries Association has just rained on California's renewable energy photo voltaic (PV) parade with the distressing news (PDF) that New Jersey's commercial PV projects now exceed California's, and that they are now the hottest and biggest market in the US for commercial PV. Yes. You read that right. New Jersey is not only smoking hot when it comes to solar installations, it may well pass California soon in total installations if we don't get organized and stop these pretende

The average age of farmers and ranchers in America is increasing, and rural populations are in decline. This is why the U.S. Department of Agriculture is acting to plant a new crop of much needed agricultural producers here in California and across the nation. Last week, Ag Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced this year's winners of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) 'Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program' (BFRDP). According to a NIFA news release, a tota

In a little-noticed move in late August, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that would award all of California's electoral votes in presidential elections to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote, a solution that proponents say would make presidential elections more rational and fair. The bill is possible because the U.S. Constitution leaves the power of selecting electors for presidential elections to the individual states. Article II, Section 1 says: "The executive P

The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a $967 million loan guarantee for a 290 MW solar photovoltaic plant on 2400 acres between Yuma and Phoenix. The Aqua Caliente project is now the world's largest PV project under construction.  This follows plans by EnviroMission to build the world's first grid-scale solar updraft tower in Arizona, which is now on the leading edge of big solar power (along with California and Nevada.) Both plants will be using state-of-the art technology to build solar

With a field of eight Republican presidential challengers in Iowa this week, Texas Governor Rick Perry (reported to soon declare his candidacy) claims he can reach across the partisan divide and win over California's Independents and even a few Democrats. "Now I'm enough of a realist to know that California is a pretty high hurdle for a Republican. But I'm going to go out there and I'm going to have a story that'll  a lot of people-Independents and maybe even some Democrats-look at me and go, '

Governor Jerry Brown is expected to provide a huge boost to the progressive anti-Electoral College movement with his signature on AB 459, the National Popular Vote law. The highly controversial bill, passed by both the Assembly and the state Senate last Thursday would enroll California in an interstate agreement that obliges member states in presidential elections to give their electoral votes to the candidate with the most votes nationwide, regardless of the true tally of each state's electoral