James Bradley freely admits he is a newcomer and an outsider to politics. Hence his low name ID.

So why then is he polling third as a first-time candidate for U.S. Senate?

A University of California, Berkeley poll released Friday has Bradley right behind Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Kevin De León.

It would be a remarkable achievement for a political novice to finish the U.S. Senate race in the top-two. Perhaps it speaks to California voters' thirst for change.

According to a new book by the 44th president's longtime adviser, Benjamin J. Rhodes, shortly after the 2016 elections, Obama wondered aloud to aides in an armed presidential limousine:

“What if we were wrong?”

But what sounded like a moment of humility turned out to be a prelude to the ultimate humblebrag, consistent with the soaring hubris of Barack Obama's personality that enamored so many Americans, and left so many others bristling.

In the op-ed,"The Voting Shell Game," which appeared in The Star Ledger and The Times of Trenton in February, Yael Niv highlights how a handful of unelected power brokers run our state, through alliances that benefit them, and not necessarily voters.

IVN reported last week that a purple wave is sweeping over deep blue California. Independents (registered No Party Preference in California) now outnumber Republicans by over 83,500 voters -- and the number is likely to continue to increase, looking at statewide trends.

Google's plan for world domination is fleshed out in public for the first time in an 8 1/2 minute video leaked from the tech giant in May.

This is not the Onion.

The video is a caricature of a low-budget dystopian sci-fi film that would be comical if the makers of the video didn't have a market capitalization larger than the budget for the U.S. Department of Defense.

It talks about a "species wide" capability for the proposed technology to promote behaviors that would "reflect Google's values as an organization."

America needs a fair, affordable and cost-effective health care system. Until recently, the terms “universal health care” and “single-payer health care” didn’t surface quite as much in our conversation about how to fix the system once and for all.

The California nonpartisan, top-two open primary has been the subject of much review by journalists and political pundits for the last 8 years. Almost universally, they view the initiative from a partisan perspective (e.g. Does this help Democrats or Republicans?), or for its effect on the ideological composition of the individual legislators (e.g. Are they more moderate?).

"I've never received this much mail for a race and I've lived here 40 years." ~ Anonymous 4th District Voter

No question the County Board of Supervisors wields tremendous power, but as the days countdown to the June 5th primary, the amount of mail coming at voters is totally absurd.

Those paying big bucks to fill our boxes in the final days certainly hope it translates in an election day nod, but clearly those same politicos can't be bothered with the accuracy of the messages on those mail pieces and the certain legal jeopardy they will face following the primary.

Nobody knows how many people saw the knowledge box in the search results for the California Republican Party website that labeled the group as followers of the Nazi ideology. Nobody but Google, and they aren’t telling.

There is a significant amount of worry in left-leaning circles around the California nonpartisan primary on June 5.

In moving the state of California to an even deeper shade of blue, the Sanctuary State policy, the gas tax, the ballooning budget of the bullet train and more, California Democrats have positioned themselves, unnecessarily some say, into a rather precarious position, and have given the state's GOP some much needed oxygen and political ammo heading into the June 5th Primary.