If you want to understand the health of American democracy, what happens in state legislatures matters just as much as what happens in Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago.

In 2025, we can assess the health of democracy at the state level by watching four pressing issues: how states respond to federal spending cuts; how legislatures handle November...Read more

Since the conclusion of the election, much of the media have painted Imperial Valley as having dramatically shifted its politics. With President-elect Donald Trump jumping from 37% of the 2020 vote in the region to 49% this year, many now claim that it has “flipped” from blue to red. Are we a once-blue county making a revolutionary ...Read more

President-elect Donald Trump has made clear his intent to supercharge his “America First” approach to foreign policy in his second term — and Mexico looks set to be at the tip of the spear.

While many of Trump’s predecessors have also followed a “realist” strategy— that is, one in which relative power is at the forefront of ...Read more

Jimmy Carter burst on to the national political scene during difficult times. The previous years had been marked by the turbulent 1960s and Vietnam. Watergate followed and a fraught nation watched as a president was forced to resign for the first time in United States history.

Trust in institutions and politicians was greatly diminished, a ...Read more

At a campaign event in Winston-Salem on the eve of the 1976 North Carolina Democratic primary, a voter asked then-candidate Jimmy Carter whether he was a “born again” Christian. Carter, a Southern Baptist Sunday-school teacher, replied that, yes, he was “born again,” thereby sending a legion of journalists from outside the Bible belt to ...Read more

Recently, a bungled health warning over black plastic spatulas didn’t help faltering trust in science. First, researchers warned us to throw away the ubiquitous utensils because the recycling process might have incorporated toxic contaminants beyond the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limits. Then someone pointed out the researchers...Read more

Jimmy Carter was the right presidential candidate for his time in 1976 — a smiling, homespun, anti-Washington outsider promising truth and decency.

He was a natural populist, but he appealed to voters' better angels, not their worst natures. He preached love, not hate.

That's how I remember the former governor and peanut farmer from tiny ...Read more

Jimmy Carter’s unlikely candidacy for president was nearly derailed by honesty.

Carter, a Southerner and evangelical Christian, was trying to tell a writer from Playboy magazine (which we only read for the articles) he was a normal, red-blooded man but also a sinner.

“I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust,” he said. “I’ve ...Read more

Mitt Romney delivered his farewell speech before the U.S. Senate in early December. It isn’t hyperbole to say it marked the end of an era.

Romney’s time in public service, which has spanned well over two decades, will be considered historic — he is the only American to serve as governor of one state and senator for another, as well as ...Read more

In the most black-swan election of our lifetimes, the politics of resentment and strongman rule rose to the apex of American power. As a result, our democracy is in danger of being degraded to a flimsy veneer overlaying autocratic and kleptocratic rule. As President-elect Donald Trump said, the intent is to fix the system “so good you're not ...Read more

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Joe.

In case it was lost following the dramatic election cycle, President Joe Biden’s last full month of office has served as a grim reminder he was one of the worst leaders this country has had in modern history.

His approval rating is a dismal 34%, his worst since taking office.

Last week, ...Read more

The horrifying arson homicide of a sleeping woman at Coney Island was the 11th murder in the subway this year. That is far too high a number. Along with other elevated crime underground, the gruesome atrocity should spur officials in charge — we’re looking at you, Gov. Kathy Hochul and you, Mayor Eric Adams — to take smart steps to make ...Read more

Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday, is the first presidential candidate I remember publicly expressing an opinion of. As it turned out, Carter would also be the first (and only) president to publicly express an opinion of me.

During Carter’s presidency he was criticized and lampooned, but during his life he was more often hailed for his public ...Read more

As this historic 2024 political year comes to a close, many Democrats are crying in their eggnog. Not only did we fail to win back the House of Representatives (this prospect seemed likely in January), but we lost the Senate and frustratingly lost the White House again — and the popular vote. Three issues add to our tears as we enter 2025 in ...Read more

Forty years ago this November, Cesar Chavez gave a speech at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club that was as much of a promise as a warning.

The main topic of the 25-minute talk was the lessons he learned from a career organizing campesinos in California and beyond, in the face of fierce opposition.

"All my life, I have been driven by one dream,...Read more

The language people use to talk about the Israel-Hamas war has power: It can contribute to misunderstanding and alienation, but it can also bring about appreciation for concepts that can seem impossible during this kind of conflict, such as peace.

I was born to a Palestinian Arab father and an Israeli Jewish mother — a union that might sound ...Read more

As Democrats look to 2025, several factors provide them with a sense of hope and optimism for regaining and maintaining political power. The landscape of American politics can be unpredictable, but the current climate offers promising avenues for Democrats to explore as they prepare for coming elections.

One of the most significant advantages ...Read more

In November 1973, a group of evangelicals met at the YMCA on Wabash Avenue and adopted the Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern. Echoing the themes of progressive evangelicalism from decades past, the declaration decried income inequality and militarism as well as the persistence of racism and hunger in an affluent society. The ...Read more

Jimmy Carter was a president, a peacemaker, a public health champion — and my friend.

When he left the White House, Carter used the power of his name, character and influence to work on challenges that were too obscure or daunting for others to deal with. I believe he did it because he felt it was the right thing to do. His humble beginnings ...Read more