Ted Cruz’s infamous “vote your conscience” speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention raised a flag for “Never Trump” Republicans to rally around nationwide. This group of disillusioned Republicans, who still have not embraced the new face of their party, have already started an exodus from their beloved Grand Old Party.

Can one woman stand before an angry, seemingly irreversible tide, stop it dead in its tracks, and rehabilitate and relaunch a battered, sinking ship?

Michelle Obama may have done just that in a masterful speech to a divided Democratic Convention. She not only reset the stage, she reset the mood. She showed style, grace, sophistication, and a textured understanding of the power of connecting personal experience to public policy.

A lesser-of-two-evils election is the lowest form of democracy. Voters deserve a better alternative. -- David Yee, August 2015

In a week that is breaking news on scandal faster than can be kept up with, along with a Democratic National Convention kicking off with a whole lot of discouraged and disgruntled participants -- probably my single best quote, from August 2015, has the most meaning of anything I've ever written.

Philadelphia, Penn. - Bernie Sanders' name will be placed in nomination and there will be a full roll-call vote on the Democratic National Convention (DNC) floor Tuesday night.

The Sacramento Bee posted a video Monday of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla being drowned out during a state delegation breakfast in Philadelphia with cries of, "You cheated!"

Last week, a circuit court judge struck down the initiative to reform redistricting in Illinois. However, the state Supreme Court quickly decided to hear the appeal, which could provide new life for the effort.

On July 22, Wikileaks released nearly 20,000 e-mails among DNC staffers, a number of which suggest bias against the Sanders campaign during the Democratic primary. Some e-mails show high-level DNC members trying to undermine the Sanders campaign, and others reveal the attitude of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz toward Sanders and his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver.

As the 2016 Republican National Convention wrapped up Thursday, one aspect was clear: Americans are increasingly looking for alternative candidates outside of the two-party duopoly. According to Google Trends, searches for "3rd party candidate 2016" increased by 1,150 percent over the last week.

While we often study issues related to bridging divisions between liberals and conservatives, there are many issues that aren’t quite as clear cut. We recently studied an event put on by The Village Square concerning the tension between sensitivity to minorities on campus, which sometimes involve limits on what people can express, versus the principle of free speech.