'America's Toughest Sheriff' Joe Arpaio Defeated in Bid To Get His Old Job Back
After a presidential pardon, Arizona's most notorious former sherrif is not a reformed man.
Campaigns/Elections
America Is Going To Vote by Mail. We're Not Ready.
President Trump threatens to delay the election over at-home voting, but a bigger problem looms: States haven’t prepared for a huge influx of mail-in ballots.
Trump's Naked Megalomania Continues a Bipartisan Trend
Will his blunt self-aggrandizement reinvigorate concerns about presidents who exceed their powers?
Trump's Warnings About Voting by Mail Mix Reasonable Concerns With Fanciful Conspiracy Theories
New York City's primary election fiasco reveals gross incompetence rather than fraud.
'Literally Hitler' Election Mailer Is Protected by the First Amendment
Plus: Trump talks COVID-19 numbers, more demands for TikTok, how the media might blow the 2020 election, and more..
As Electoral Reform Lands on More Ballots, Anti-Ranked-Choice Campaign Defends Status Quo
The Protect My Ballot campaign is out to stop ranked-choice voting.
No, Trump Can't Delay the Election
And no, mail-in voting is not more vulnerable to fraud than absentee voting. It's actually the exact same thing.
Potential Key to the 2020 Election: Voters Who Can't Stand Both Trump and Biden
The "haters demographic" broke strongly in Trump's favor in 2016, but this time the group is younger, more liberal, and more likely to vote for Biden.
Two Billionaires Demonstrate the Limits of Money in Elections
No amount of money can buy victory for candidates who fail to persuade voters.
Joe Biden's Latest Campaign Trail Target Is Milton Friedman. But Why?
Whatever the latest polls say about Biden versus Trump, the Delaware Democrat almost surely has a better chance at winning the presidency than he does at undoing Milton Friedman's life work.
Why Was the Wisconsin Primary Election a Federal Case in the First Place
Most of the commentary on the Supreme Court's rejection of last minute judicial intervention glossed over the underlying constitutional question.
I Ran for Governor of Oklahoma Against Tiger King's Joe Exotic
Lessons learned from the zookeeper Netflix made famous
How to Hold Elections During a Pandemic
Joshua and Rachel Kleinfeld offer some ideas about how to avoid a replay of the Wisconsin mess
Bernie Sanders Suspends His Presidential Campaign
"I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful," Sanders told supporters in a livestreamed address on Wednesday morning.
Making Sense of the Wisconsin Election Supreme Court Decision(s)
Marquette University law professor Chad Oldfather offers a helpful explainer laying out the issues in the SCOTUS and SCOWIS decisions on the Wisconsin primary elections.
The Bloomberg and Steyer Fiascoes Should Give Pause to Speech Restrictionists
No amount of money can buy victory for candidates who fail to persuade voters.
Trial Lawyers Are Betting Big on Biden
What those donors understand is that a President Biden would nominate judges who are favorably disposed, or at least not hostile.
Bloomberg Drops Out, Demonstrating the Limits of Money and the Perils of Arrogance
The former New York City mayor has never been good at concealing his conviction that he is smarter and better than the rest of us.
Tulsi Gabbard Wins a Delegate. The DNC Might Still Keep Her Off the Debate Stage.
The anti-war candidate's scoring of a delegate in American Samoa might earn her a spot on in the next Democratic debate.
Joe Biden Wins South Carolina Primary, Slowing Bernie Sanders' Momentum Before Super Tuesday
Biden's win in South Carolina gives his campaign new life, increases the likelihood of a brokered convention in Milwaukee, and ends Tom Steyer's campaign.
What Would Samuel Adams Think of Michael Bloomberg's Campaign?
"I hope our country will never see the time, when either riches or the want of them will be the leading considerations in the choice of public officers," Adams wrote in 1776.
Joe Biden Blocked Robert Bork's Supreme Court Nomination. Now, Biden Is Getting 'Borked' Too.
Paradoxically, in the current moment—a moment Biden helped to create by blocking Bork—being unqualified for the presidency is the best qualification a candidate can have.
There's Nothing Special About Iowa. Time To Let Other States Vote First.
Letting any single state go first is a mistake. But a national primary would be problematic too. Luckily, those aren't the only two options.
Amy Klobuchar Boasts About Putting Myon Burrell Behind Bars. But What If He's Innocent?
Activists urge Klobuchar to suspend her presidential campaign.
What's Behind Bernie Sanders' Surge? The Same Discontent That Caused Trump's 2016 Rise.
One dynamic that works in favor of both Trump and Sanders is that voters discount their extreme stances, figuring that they just represent opening offers that will eventually be watered down in compromises with powerful interest groups and with establishment lawmakers.
Should Wall Street Be Worried by Potential Sanders, Warren Presidencies?
The Sanders-Warren agenda of higher taxes, increased regulation, and more government control worries Wall Street
Bloomberg, Steyer Showing Money Can't Buy Elections After Failed $200 Million Ad Blitz
The two Democratic billionaires have spent a combined $200 million on campaign ads already. That doesn't mean much to them, but the opportunity costs are staggering.
Los Angeles Bans Developers From Making Campaign Donations
In the midst of a housing crisis, L.A. politicians have decided to limit their own incentives to allow more housing construction.
The First Presidential Debates Featured Wax Dummies and Phonograph Records
Friday A/V Club: Long before Kennedy and Nixon, there were Bryan and Taft.
Did Elizabeth Warren Forget She's a Senator?
The presidential campaign seems to be Warren's priority, despite the fact that she's being paid to represent the residents of Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate.
Tulsi Gabbard Conspiracy Theories Go Mainstream as Hillary Clinton Accuses the Candidate of Being Groomed by Russia
Gabbard called Clinton "the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long."
Obama, Trudeau, and the Morality of Electoral Interference
Barack Obama's recent endorsement of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is an example of why not all foreign efforts to influence elections are wrong.
Privacy for Rights Isn't a Trade Americans Should Be Forced To Make
Should participation in an election hinge on a voter's identity being made public? Of course not.
The Return of the Faithless Elector
Are we ready for a return to the "original meaning" of the Electoral College?
Democrats Join Trump in Seeking Balance by Policing Speech
The constitutional amendment they support, like the president’s plan to regulate social media, trusts the government to moderate our political debate.
Every Democrat in the Senate Supports a Constitutional Amendment That Would Radically Curtail Freedom of Speech
The Democracy for All Amendment aims to mute some voices so that others can be heard.
Democrats Need To Talk About Immigrants as Assets, Not Supplicants Needing Handouts
They are letting President Trump's bogus anti-immigration narrative dominate their conversation
Beto vs. Warren Is the Trade Policy Debate Democrats Need To Have
Unlike many other policies proposed by Democratic presidential hopefuls, trade policy is something a new president can unilaterally impose.
The Puny Reality of Russian Election Meddling
If Moscow aimed to "sow chaos," it needed a much bigger budget.
Several Dem Candidates Promise to Bring Troops Home From Our Forever Wars in the Middle East
Buttigieg calls for three-year sunset on military force authorizations.
Will Any Democrat Stand Up for Free Trade at This Week's Debates?
A majority of Americans say they favor free trade. But both major parties are moving in the other direction.
Warren's Trade Policy Dresses Up Trumpism with Progressive Rhetoric
Warren says her administration "will engage in international trade—but on our terms and only when it benefits American families." The details show she'd be opposed to trade with most developing nations.
Sanders, Warren Compare Capitalists to Vampires, but Socialism Is What Really Sucks
There's a risk that if Warren and Sanders do get their way, the sucking sound will be of talent and capital fleeing America for other jurisdictions where they will be treated better.
Media Overhypes Russian Hacking, Again
Plus: human trafficking victims arrested in Florida, Beyoncé and Domino's targeted by disability discrimination suits, and more...
Bernie Sanders Gets a Lesson in What a $15 Minimum Wage Would Mean
But the campaign workers complaining about their union-negotiated salaries are being hypocritical too.
Kamala Harris Is Reimagining Herself as a Progressive Prosecutor
Harris is pitching a carefully constructed narrative that seems to be at odds with her record in many ways.
Gabbard Sympathizes With Amash, Says the Two-Party System Sucks
"The outsized power that the political parties hold can often be used in the wrong way to squelch our democracy and dissenting voices even within our own parties," says Gabbard.
Kirsten Gillibrand's Ann Taylor Feminism Is a Loser
Her brand of feminism has little appeal beyond a narrow band of white professional women.