I read an interesting article in the New York Times this morning that speculates about what the “swarm” of young social media activists that catapulted the Bernie Sanders campaign are going to do next. These tech savvy activists are developing new ways of campaigning and raising money. Many may turn next to down-ticket progressives, which would be great.
I am so gratified that the General Assembly passed a bill rescinding all past resolutions calling for an Article V constitutional convention this week
. Common Cause Delaware was primarily interested in rescinding the resolution that focuses on a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution, which would be an unmitigated disaster for every educational and social welfare program funded by the federal government. It would take control over the budget out of the hands of the people’s representatives in Congress and give power to unelected judges, thus violating the separation of powers.Read More »Rescission in DE: Big Win This Week!
Here in Delaware, we hear a lot about the “Veasey Report,” and its reform agenda, but what does that agenda actually entail?Read More »What Is the Veasey Reform Agenda — and What is Not?
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!