"If we don't band together to unrig the system, there will not be a country passed to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren..." - Josh Silver, Director of RepresentUs

The following piece was co-written by Independent Voting President Jacqueline Salit and Independent Voter Project Attorney Chad Peace, in remembrance of the late Patrick Cadell. Caddell was a broadly-respected political pollster and pundit. He served as a consultant for President Jimmy Carter and other presidential candidates, including drafting a strategy memo for independent Ross Perot in 1992, and appeared regularly as an on-air commentator for Fox News. Caddell passed away on February 16 after suffering a stroke.

US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard believes that the US's response to the sociopolitical crisis in Venezuela could prevent successful negotiations with North Korea leader Kim Jung-Un, who President Trump is meeting for the second time this week in Vietnam.

Since Howard Schultz announced that he was considering running for president as an independent, there has been much speculation about how his potential entry might affect the race in 2020. Specifically, howls of Schultz “spoiling” the race have been heard from Democratic candidates and operatives.

Since Howard Schultz announced that he was considering running for president as an independent, there has been much speculation about how his potential entry might affect the race in 2020. Specifically, howls of Schultz “spoiling” the race have been heard from Democratic candidates and operatives.

Pat Benjamin, author of "The Perot Legacy: A New Political Path," discusses Ross Perot’s two presidential campaigns with T.J. O’Hara and what elements might apply to Howard Schultz’s potential presidential bid.

The lead story in Wednesday’s Washington Post, was written by two reporters telling us what might happen to Democratic candidates running for president, in a race that doesn’t end until November 3, 2020 — a mere 615 days away.

You might say I’m a political junkie, but I’m not reading speculative junk by two reporters about a subject I may know more about than they — if being in and around politics for 53 years counts for anything.

“The establishment of democracy on the American continent was scarcely as radical a break with the (European) past as was the necessity, which Americans faced, of broadening the concept to include black men.”-  James Baldwin, "Notes of a Native Son"

From the founding onward, race has been the American fulcrum, the nexus by which the country is united or divided, with the African American community pivotal in the long struggle for a broad-based inclusive American democracy. Race and place perpetually intertwine here.

It’s like déjà vu all over again: City Hall insiders asking politicians to leap before they look.

This time it’s proposals backed by the YIMBY (“yes in my back yard”) movement to lift height limits and eliminate parking requirements in order to promote even more high-density residential development, beyond what the law already allows.

I'm quite sure there are few things in this world Chicago Police superintendent Eddie Johnson has not seen, which makes his news conference this week on the Jussie Smollett case all the more remarkable.

In a time when over-the-top, inaccurate reports in the news and entertainment media are commonplace, Johnson's pointed comments on the latest manufactured hate hoax not only stood out, they will stand the test of time.