Political drama is usually reserved for critical swing states in national politics, but this year's U.S. Senate race in Kansas continues to have surprises at every turn.

Over the past year, the media has made a ton of fuss over the dominance of Millennials in the Silicon Valley. Older workers are often pushed out for innovative young thinkers to expand the boundaries of technological advancement.

The first debate in the Kansas race for U.S. Senate was held at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, Kansas on Saturday. In the first face-to-face meeting, Republican incumbent Pat Roberts continued his attempts to characterize independent candidate Greg Orman as a liberal Democrat. Orman called into question Roberts' voting record, particularly issues where Roberts sided with Democrats on appropriation bills.

It's the same story that independent candidates face across the country: a battle against a mass of special interest groups, accusations of spoiling the race, and laws tailored to the interests of the two-party duopoly. That's exactly where Maine's independent gubernatorial candidate, Eliot Cutler, currently finds himself.

“I don't take money from special interest PACs or political parties,” Cutler said in an interview for IVN.

The Gaza Strip, an approximately 30-mile long strip of land sandwiched between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea, is the location of one of the most contentious and hotly debated conflicts in recent human history.

The latest iteration of the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict is now entering its third month with little hope of lasting peace, despite attempts by Secretary of State John Kerry and Egyptian President el-Sisi to quell indiscriminate rocket fire on the part of Hamas and to halt civilian causalities as a result of Israeli airstrikes.

Upon landing in the new world the first things settlers did was hold an election. Voting was commonplace, though not uniform. Colonies pursued their own methods, policies, restrictions, and exceptions.

Voting used to be the privilege of America’s white, wealthy, and elite men. The privileged class tried to keep the power of the vote from people of color, the poor, and women since the birth of this nation.

In 1776, only white, male property owners were permitted to vote.

When Congress returns to session there will be many topics on the agenda ranging from a possible declaration of war against the Islamic State to immigration reform. Yet for one congressman from North Carolina, another issue takes precedence.

Meanwhile, here in Kansas. . . .

Just a week ago, it was a forgone conclusion that incumbent Senator Pat Roberts would win an easy plurality in a three-person race with Democrat Chad Taylor and well-funded Independent Greg Orman. Roberts, who recently fought off a strong primary challenge, is unpopular in Kansas, but being the only Republican on the ballot here is usually enough to win.

To say that our current voting system is plagued with problems would be an extreme understatement.