What role, if any, do campaign contributions have on how our elected representatives vote? While I have not yet had time to do a comprehensive analysis, I did crunch a few numbers this afternoon and found some very interesting results. What it all means is a topic for another time.Read More »Defeating Repeal: Follow the Money Edition, part 1
“We are watching, and we will remember in November.”
Democracy requires competitive elections. If you have an election, and there is no competition, it doesn’t really matter whether you vote or not — and so people don’t.Read More »We need Independent Redistricting Reform in Delaware. Do you agree?
I just finished reading a really interesting book Occupy Nation: The Roots, The Spirit, and the Promise of Occupy Wall Street (2012) by Todd Gitlin, who was one of the original members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), back in the ’60s, and is now a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University, an Ivy League school in New York City.Read More »From “Occupy Nation” to the Return of the Left
I am looking forward to the State of the Union address tonight. I’ll be running a live Twitter feed for @CommonCauseDE and also myself @clairesnyderhal. Check it out! (And yes, only one L at the end of my name.)Read More »Tweeting about the SOTU
This morning at the gym, Mikki had a “moment of clairity.” She said that one of the reasons Donald Trump has so many followers is that he makes it fun. Progressives need to make things fun too.Read More »“Yo, dude, you’re blocking the beer!”: Building Social Capital on the Left
The beginning of 2016 has brought new optimism to my life. Read More »More Optimism about the Left!
“In 2010, we saw the Tea Party yank the entire political discourse way to the right. The Tea Party was powerful because it was boldly ideological; it recruited and groomed candidates; and it created a strong national brand. Our view is that there isn’t anything analogous to that on the left, and there ought to be.”
—– Jon Green, Deputy Director, Working Families Party
Now that I am full-time with Common Cause, instead of half-time, it’s time to upgrade the website. I’ve been working all day, writing the text… Read More »Common Cause Delaware Agenda
I read a peculiar comment by a Delaware House member in the newspaper today about why he doesn’t want to vote to override the Governor’s veto:
“If you’re a Democrat, and the governor’s a Democrat, you have to think long and hard, ‘Do I want to override my governor?’ It has to be a really big issue for you to do that.”