We find ourselves in the summer months prior to an off-year election…which is to say that this isn’t a time of great electoral excitement. Yes, we have Special Congressional Elections in North Carolina’s 3rd and 9th Districts in September. Yes, we have Gubernatorial elections in Kentucky, Mississippi and Louisiana in November. Yes, we have state … Continue reading What YOU Can Do NOW to Save America
The California Democratic Party convention hosted 14 presidential candidates, providing a pre-debate glimpse of the evolving nomination battle. If there were such a thing as a candy shop for Democratic activists, it would look a lot like the California Democratic Party state convention, where 14 of the party’s 23 declared presidential candidates arrived to peddle … Continue reading California Dems Check Out the Contenders, Find a Lot to Like
On June 11, voters in Fairfax County will have the chance to vote in a primary with five contested races for the Democratic nominations for the Board of Supervisors. The Washington Post Editorial Board chose to issue endorsements in these races, but their endorsement process was insufficiently transparent and even-handed, resulting in endorsements that should … Continue reading The Washington Post’s Endorsement Process is Not Endorsable
Now that Special Counsel Mueller has spoken publicly about his findings, the time has come for a discussion about what know. While the understanding of what we know and don’t know might become clearer as we move forward, a number of facts have been pretty thoroughly established. For example, we know the Trump campaign courted … Continue reading The Certainties of Impeachment
Many reasons, one common goal: turn state government blue by challenging Republican incumbents statewide. For Beverly Harrison in Virginia’s House of Delegates District 15, it started with Donald Trump’s 2016 election, intensified at the D.C. Women’s March the following January, and crystallized during the early 2019 fight for state ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. … Continue reading Virginia Democrats Stepping Up to Run in Rural “Red” Districts
Abortion bans without exemptions for rape and incest are already being considered or signed into law in over ten states. State legislators, overwhelmingly men, seem to be tripping over themselves to see who can pass the most restrictive laws, claiming respect and sanctity of life while ignoring the pleas of women telling them how they … Continue reading Take It From A Rape Survivor- These New Abortion Bills are Bullshit.
Illinois' Marie Newman & grassroots supporters take the fight to incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski in this Blue-Trending District. Ordinarily, I’m one of those Democrats bothered by primary challengers to sitting Democratic members of the U.S. House and Senate. Most of the time, I’d prefer we spend our time, money and political energy electing additional Democrats … Continue reading Newman Primaries Conservative ‘Democrat’ Lipinski in IL-03
Download | iTunes | Spotify Kelly speaks with Marie Newman, who is running for Congress in the Illinois 3rd District, about her focus on families and transportation, and what Marie calls improving "Everybody's Everyday." Links: Marie Newman: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Download | iTunes | Spotify Sophy & Kelly chat with Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action, about the legislative successes of Moms Demand, about standing up to the NRA and other internet trolls, about women's friendships, and about Shannon's new book, Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change … Continue reading PODCAST: Shannon Watts (Two Broads Talking Politics, Episode 226)
On Wednesday, May 15th, the House Judiciary Committee is holding a long-overdue hearing on executive privilege and congressional oversight. As a political scientist who specializes in the powers of the president and Congress, I encourage Chairman Nadler and his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take this topic very seriously. Congress needs to … Continue reading Dear Chairman Nadler: It’s Time to Fight Executive Overreach
Should Congress impeach president Trump or shouldn’t they? That’s the argument most people are having – on both sides of the aisle – subsequent to the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election, and the president’s attempts to impede Mueller’s inquiry: should the House of … Continue reading The Case for Impeachment
Download | iTunes | Spotify Kelly speaks with Jaime Harrison, Associate Chair and Counselor of the DNC and former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, who is running for US Senate in South Carolina against Lindsey Graham. Links: Jaime Harrison: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Centrists and Moderates face increasing, often aggressive, criticism for not being Left or Right enough. But what if I told you the political middle serves a very different--and essential--function in a healthy democracy? Our Current Political Landscape The United States has a two-party system: Democrats and Republicans. It’s misleading at best. Our political landscape is … Continue reading Making a Case for the Middle
Virginia's Network NoVA is putting together its 3rd annual Women's Summit to ensure that VA women flip the House of Delegates in 2019. The next time someone tries to laugh off the January 21, 2017 Women’s March as just an ineffective, self-indulgent demonstration by pink pussy-hatted women, just share Network NoVA’s story with them. Because … Continue reading With the ERA Hanging in the Balance, Virginia Women Are Taking Charge
I address this not just to the twenty million Democrats running for President, but Bill Weld, who is challenging Trump in the Republican primary. Y’All have a problem. What makes Trump so effective- and dangerous- is that he is first rate at branding. He spews catchphrases and soundbites like “Make America Great Again” and “Build … Continue reading What Makes Trump So Dangerous (And How to Beat Him at His Own Game)
#TimesUp. Democrats in the biggest county in Oregon passed a resolution asking the state's Democratic Senate President to step down. Here's why. I am sitting next to a reporter trying not to have a panic attack, preparing to make my case. I'm bringing a resolution before the Multnomah County Democrats to call for Oregon's most … Continue reading Leadership Matters. That’s Why Peter Courtney Must Step Down.
As the GOP gears up for the 2020 elections, they’re going to paint Democratic cities as atrocious hellholes. Here’s how to fight back. By Paul Constant, originally posted on Civic Skunk Works. In retrospect, the Urban Archipelago was always doomed to failure. At the time — in November of 2004, just after George W. Bush beat John Kerry … Continue reading The Republican War on American Cities
I have to be honest. Elizabeth Warren has been rolling out policy plans like a Seth Abramson thread, and it’s pretty damn amazing. A sheer contrast to Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s, “Storytelling First. Policy Details Later” approach. Warren has released over 20 public policy stances since announcing her bid for President in 2020, and I am … Continue reading 2020 Candidate Spotlight: Elizabeth Warren
Russian version of this text was published here. Very few people know that before her arrival in the US, Butina had managed to gain trust with the Russian opposition, participated in the Russian human rights and opposition projects, and none of the activists she kept in touch with could even imagine that she worked for … Continue reading An open letter to Maria Butina from her victims
DemWords: Columnist L. Renee' Chubb digs in and assesses the strength of Kamala Harris' candidacy for President of the United States. In light of Kamala releasing her tax returns for the past 15 years, I feel it’s important we take a look at her more seriously as a heavy contender in this packed democratic race … Continue reading 2020 Candidate Spotlight: Kamala Harris
Red state Democrats are crucial to our party. They use margin voting to improve re-election prospects while advancing our agenda.
Scientists offer optimism: data on California's generation of renewable electricity points to a clean energy future for the state. When the California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) – the state’s non-profit overseer-operator of the Golden State’s bulk electric power system, transmission lines and electricity markets – posted data on its website April 9 showing that the … Continue reading We Can Win the War on Climate Change. Just Ask California.
We don’t have to wait until 2020 to start organizing in Wisconsin. Tomorrow, Wisconsinites will choose between Lisa Neubauer and Brian Hagedorn for a seat on the state Supreme Court--and the outcome could foreshadow whether Wisconsin flips in 2020. The seat is currently held by Shirley Abrahamson, a left-leaning judge who is retiring after a … Continue reading Critical Wisconsin State Supreme Court Election Tuesday 4/2
While America was so wrapped up in the injustice of Attorney General Barr hiding the Mueller report, Antwon Rose's mom faced true injustice and despair: she watched her son's murderer - Michael Rosenfeld - go free. Yet again, institutional power eclipsed justice for a black family, and the media barely paid any attention - while … Continue reading To Protect and Serve? Reflecting on Antwon Rose.
My biggest memory of the night of the election of 2016: my husband is in bed asleep and I am in the living room watching anything but election coverage while checking the polls here and there. My son walks out of his bedroom and says "Mom, this can't be right, they are saying he won", … Continue reading We Are All in This Together!
Elijah Cummings was right. We desperately need a return to normalcy. But, how do we do that? What is our role as American citizens? The Trump presidency has awoken us to the fragility of our democracy, but the crisis didn’t start with him – it culminated in him. Simply removing Trump from office may remove … Continue reading A Return to Normalcy Depends On We The People
For the second time this week, the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, blocked the resolution which called for the publication of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia's intervention in the 2016 presidential election. As of now, all we know about the content of the report is what’s in … Continue reading What do the results of the Mueller investigation mean?
The proposed bill to support Dreamers ignores young adults who entered the US legally as children, but are now 'aging out' or finishing college. Talk about a Catch 22. If you’re among the more than two million young adults living in America who were illegally brought into America as children and qualified for President Obama’s … Continue reading The Proposed ‘Dream & Promise Act’ is a Nightmare for Some
Download | iTunes | Spotify Kelly talks to Marc Friedenberg, a Penn State professor, lawyer, father, and Democratic nominee for the special election for US Congress in the Pennsylvania 12th District. This election, on May 21. is the first chance for Democrats to flip a Congressional seat in 2019.
He didn’t pull the trigger. He won’t be held criminally liable. And he can’t be sued. But make no mistake, Donald Trump bears responsibility for the act of white supremacist terrorism that recently took the lives of 50 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand. I’m not saying it was only him. There have been plenty of other aggressors over … Continue reading Yes, Donald Trump Is Responsible for Christchurch
There's a new term that you need to be familiar with: Identitarian and Identitarianism. It's the new hood for white supremacists and the new tiki torch for white nationalists. Same coin different sides, and once again, the same old tired playbook: Fly under the radar and be anonymous and secretive in their organizing and radicalization … Continue reading Identitarianism in America
We have a wealth of riches today in the Democratic party. In terms of candidates, we are in double digits and still counting. (Biden?) There are some who lament that there are simply too many candidates and our energies will be scattered. Others are looking forward to a lively debate where candidates will be tested … Continue reading “Who Gets My Money?” A Small Donor’s Dilemma
In response to this op-ed in the Johnson City Press asserting he's been inconsistent in his rebuke of presidential overreach, Congressman Phil Roe decided to double down on his support of the national emergency and "the wall." In doing so, he backed his argument with highly misleading half-truths and flat-out lies. First, he claimed that … Continue reading Rep. Phil Roe is Using Lies to Back Trump’s ‘Emergency’ – and Needs to Own It
In light of the excruciatingly lenient sentence that Paul Manafort received, it's important that we look at our broken justice system that methodically and consistently finds white collar crime socially acceptable, and street crime a bane on our society. White collar crimes were first coined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939, as " a crime … Continue reading The ‘OK’ Criminal: White Collar Crime Stats That Will Surprise You
This piece was originally published in The Integrity Initiative New York criminal lawyer Arkady Bukh is known far beyond the United States. In the last decade, he has defended many Russian hackers who had been extradited to the United States. Among his clients were: Vladislav Khorokhorin, whom the US authorities called one of the most … Continue reading How Russian Hackers Work with Russian Intelligence
Reflections on Apollo 11: seeing a movie, and seeing what goes unseen, unspoken & unnoticed. Last weekend, we splurged on two IMAX tickets to view a gem of film history: Apollo 11, the documentary movie created from recently rediscovered National Aeronautics and Space Administration footage as a celebration of America’s extraordinary 1969 moon landing – … Continue reading History Looks Different Through a Woman’s Eyes
Yep. It's true. But why would information on the President's daughter and her business dealings be included in a House document request to the founder of Blackwater? I have thoughts. Read on. Background: Erik Prince and FSG (Frontier Services Group) Former Navy SEAL and founder of the now nonexistent private security company Blackwater, who held … Continue reading Ivanka Trump Named in House Document Request to Erik Prince’s Company Re: Emoluments
This article was originally posted in EU Today. Just recently, the Russian state channel Russia-1 listed US military facilities that would become possible Kremlin targets in the event of a nuclear strike. In particular, the TV host Dmitry Kiselev threatened to aim the Zircon hypersonic missiles at the Pentagon and several command posts, including the control … Continue reading Moscow is Engaging in Nuclear Blackmail. Who is the Intended Target?
As we all know. This week sets a rapid-fire succession of 3 back to back congressional hearings (one public, and 2 private), for Michael Cohen. So ladies and gents of the Twitter-verse, I dare to enlighten all of you, as we revel in what we learned in one of the most historic congressional hearings, we … Continue reading #RepCummings4TheWin: Cohen’s Testimony Before the Blue House:
And according to experts, electing women doesn't just feel better: it delivers better results for constituents and community. On two consecutive weekends in February, two of my representatives – one, a 31-year-old newly-elected member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s 25th House district, the other, a 40-something newly-elected member of the California Assembly from … Continue reading Meetings are Different When Your Congressman is a Woman
While much has been made of last week’s video depicting Green New Deal activists’ contentious visit with Senator Dianne Feinstein, in my opinion the most important video about climate last week came from the head of a union talking about immediate impact on workers. As the author of a DNC #GreenNewDeal & fossil fuel ban … Continue reading With Humanity On the Line, We Must Take Urgent Action Together On Climate
Download | iTunes | Spotify Sophy and Kelly chat with Juanita Charles, a Democratic veteran, business owner, wife, and mother, who is running for State Senate in Tennessee District 22 in the special election on April 23, 2019.
Download | iTunes | Spotify Kelly talks to three aldermanic candidates in the Chicago municipal election on Tuesday, February 26: Maria Hadden in the 49th Ward (00:26-16:59); Eileen Dordek in the 47th Ward (17:06-34:28); and Colin Bird-Martinez in the 31st Ward (34:35-50:12).
Ever since Brexit and Trump’s victory, the media has become flooded with stories about populism, even regarding opinions on whether support for populism is increasing or stalled in European elections. Shortly afterwards, the media started focusing on apparent problems with electoral integrity. You probably remember when Trump claimed, repeatedly, that millions of votes were fraudulently … Continue reading How Populism Threatens Electoral Integrity
The grassroots wonders if Joe Biden is a candidate for President in 2020. All indications point to it, and yet the tease continues – “Will I, or won’t I?”
This piece was originally published in Euromaidan Press American Paul Whelan was arrested on 28 December in Moscow and accused of espionage. What stands out in his case is not that he is extremely unlikely to be a spy – Moscow’s hostage-taking is well known. Whelan can be viewed as what the Russian intelligence calls … Continue reading The Hard Fate of Foreign Russia-Lovers
Download | iTunes | Spotify Kelly talks to Liuba Grechen Shirley, Founder & CEO of the Vote Mama PAC, the first PAC focused solely on electing moms. They discuss Liuba's run for Congress, the challenges she faced in running as the mother of two young children, and Vote Mama's plans to mentor and support Democratic mothers as they run … Continue reading PODCAST: Vote Mama with Liuba Grechen Shirley (Two Broads Talking Politics, Episode 184)
Friday, we saw our president appear on national television and declare a state of emergency for an artificial border crisis. At the same time, he admitted himself that not only was it unnecessary, but that he knew it was an abuse of his power as he asked the supreme court to support his decision anyway. … Continue reading On National Emergencies and Abuse of Power
Calling for impeachment hearings now is certainly warranted, but is not politically strategic, which is why Democratic leaders aren't doing it. Yet. By Matt Scharfstein & Nick Knudsen Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on our border has prompted fresh calls for his removal from office. Rightfully so: the American people and their representatives … Continue reading How to Remove a Lawless President Through the Use of Institutional Power
The New Year has begun and, with that, a new Congress has been elected. Politically, the pendulum will swing to the left and to the right over and over again. While there is really no tri-fold brochure on how to politically navigate 2019, I will do my best to dispel a few myths that, if … Continue reading Common Myths: Watching for Blind Spots in 2019 & 2020