San Francisco may be a bellwether for November’s midterms, and the future of the Democratic Party. Last November, when U.S. Representative and former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced her long-anticipated retirement, she vacated a seat held for nearly four decades, and gave San Franciscan voters a once-in-a-generation choice. As the growing shadow of […]
Tag: Democrats
Democrats have a Liberal Problem
A rather worrying sentiment has pervaded America in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election. It has arisen as disheartened Americans, confounded by the abrupt rightward turn the nation took and by nine onerous months of living under the second Trump Administration, grapple with the nation’s political predicament by asking the curious question, “How did […]
Flight to the Right: How Democrats Lost San Francisco Asian Americans
In a historically progressive city, San Francisco’s Asian American community showed up and showed out in support of right-wing candidates and policies down the ballot in the 2024 election. While Trump’s share of Black and Latino voters hardly shifted, Trump captured Asian Americans in tension with the Democratic Party. After President Donald Trump’s onslaught of […]
The Fight for Fair Maps Continues in California
The 2022 midterm elections have proven once more how much the California Citizens Redistricting Commission has failed to live up to its mission: drawing fair maps. In 2022, Democratic House candidates in California won 63% of the state’s popular vote but 77% of California’s House seats. The California Citizens Redistricting Commission, approved by voters in […]
The Democratic Party is Untenable
The United States stands at the precipice of so many crises that I cannot hope to list them all here. We seem intent to drive straight off the cliff of imminent climate catastrophe. Our healthcare and education systems balloon in costs, run by and for profit-seeking middlemen rather than the interests of the people that […]
The Quiet Menace of Court Packing
The Supreme Court has a credibility problem: a 40% approval rating, to be precise. Such a number is par for the course for President Joe Biden (whose approval hovers at 41%) and enviable for Congress, whose approval rose to a paltry 23% this year. But for the Supreme Court, 40% approval marks a seismic 19-point […]
Ten Years Post-Reform, How Are California’s Congressional Maps Still Unfair?
What a success story for California! After decades of Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature rigging Congressional maps through gerrymandering, citizens finally came together in 2008 to pass Prop 11, and in 2010 to pass Prop 20, putting redistricting in the hands of a bipartisan citizen commission. Once and for all, California had fair […]
The Democrats’ Branding Failure
The midterm election set to take place this year has significant potential to upset the delicate balance of Congress. With an effective 50-50 split in the Senate accompanied by a slim eight seat majority in the House, Democrats face an uphill battle in the coming election cycle that signals the need for the party to […]
The Future for Racial Justice in U.S. Courts
Nearly one year ago, President Biden’s ascension to office alongside a Democratically controlled Senate and House brought with it a cautiously optimistic hope for legislation that could address racial injustice in the United States. However, much racial justice legislation throughout the year has been unable to withstand the pressures of partisan and intra-party divisions in […]
The Haitian Migrant Crisis: Business As Usual For US Border Policy?
Why do we see brutal images and aggressive tactics against immigrants under the Biden Administration? Is US immigration policy just going to be a continuation of the Trump Era? 38-year-old Joanne Joseph told the New York Times that life in Haiti was “a struggle every day.” An immigrant, she feels safe and secure as she […]
Our Politics Has A Sexual Violence Problem
Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo, Donald Trump, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas: what do all these men, Democrats and Republicans alike, have in common? Numerous allegations of various forms of sexual misconduct. What is further troubling is that these are only a few names in a long, exhaustive list of elected politicians that have […]
We Must Invest in a Public Healthcare System: Medicare for All Now!
The coronavirus pandemic may have started in the East, but China, a country with a population four times the size of the United States, kept its death totals to 90,000. This number is dwarfed by the now 517,000 deaths being reported in the US, the most in the world by approximately 250,000 deaths. Considering that […]
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Trafficking of Sweden’s Migrants
In times as politically uncertain and turbulent as these, it is tempting to idolize countries that appear idyllic. For many, Sweden is that utopic model that other Western democracies pale in comparison to. While Sweden is a remarkably functional and stable state with many admirable qualities, its consistent celebrity amongst those of us unfortunate enough […]
Progressives Sparked a Movement; The Democratic Party Killed It
As the progressive movement advances past the leadership of Bernie Sanders, it must come to terms with the difficulties in challenging the Democratic Party establishment. When Senator Sanders entered the presidential race in 2016, he hoped to shift the Overton window — the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population — to the […]
Campaign Finance as it Relates to Progressivism
As the 2020 presidential election draws closer and closer, the field of Democratic candidates is slowly winnowing. Gone are the likes of former Governor John Hickenlooper and Representative Eric Swalwell as they failed to gain traction in a crowded race. But there are two candidates that are likely to stick around for quite some time. […]
Breaking the Silence Over Israel
The political and publish backlash that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) faced over her recent comments criticizing Israel and AIPAC shows a dire need for an active debate within Congress that would allow for legitimate criticism of Israel’s actions as well as serious discussion about anti-Semitic forces in the United States. The inability to foster a […]
Will ICE Freeze the Blue Wave?
On March 1st, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that operations in their Northern-Central California jurisdiction have resulted in 232 arrests for violations of federal immigration law. 117 of these offenders were “non-criminals” innocent of any offense unrelated to immigration. A few months later, a three-day criminal sweep mostly centered on immigration violators […]
To Spy or Not to Spy: Questions Raised by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
In June of 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama stated that “Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people.” However, he went on […]
Gassed up: Standoffs, Strikes, and Tension in West Virginia
A couple weeks ago, Lissa Lucas, a Democratic political candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates, was physically dragged off the House Chambers floor during a Judiciary Committee hearing. Prior to this, Lucas had taken to the podium at the hearing and listed donations that Congresspeople, primarily Republicans, had received from the oil and […]
Presidential Election Primaries: The Struggle for Influence
For nearly a century, a well-established political institution within the United States, the presidential primaries, has convinced many in its influential power to decide the nominee for each political party’s presidential candidate. The deeply-rooted drive for a greater influence on the outcome of the presidential election recently drove California to pass new legislation that would […]
Divisive Indivisible: Will Democrats Decide to Divorce?
Marriages are messy. Every couple shares some common ground that forms the basis of their relationship, but, humans being humans, each will have disagreements that create tension. Sometimes, the spouses come together and talk about these differences like adults. But if they come to view the other as detrimental to their wellbeing and fail to […]
Gun Violence and the American Mind
“Reform the mental health care system.” Time and time again, this has been the right-wing response to mass shootings. From three years ago, when 26 lives were lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School, to more recently, when ten people were killed at Umpqua Community College, right-wing politicians have consistently shifted blame onto the American system of […]
After Roe: The New Wave of Abortion Restrictions
Ann Richards, the late Democratic governor of Texas, once stated, “We’re not going to have the America that we want until we elect leaders who are going to tell the truth – not most days, but every day.” For Ms. Richards’ daughter, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, September 29th was not a good day for […]
AUMF 2015 and the War on ISIL
There is a common refrain in American politics when politicians discuss taking military action in foreign countries. “[insert country of interest here] is going to be another Afghanistan… another Iraq… another Vietnam.” In Vietnam, what began with light air support and humanitarian aid lead to deployment of “advisors,” who invariably were involved in firefights, escalating […]
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Fast Track Authority: What’s the Big Deal?
A cornerstone of President Obama’s trade agenda has created a rift between his administration and his Democratic base, who have joined with Tea Party Republicans in an unusual marriage of convenience. The legislation in question, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is a colossal proposed trade agreement that involves twelve countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and […]
A Possible Return of Partisan Gerrymandering
As the Arizona State Legislature resumes its fight to reinstate gerrymandering for congressional districts, California may also witness the rebirth of gerrymandering in future elections. The case, Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has decided to hear oral arguments from Arizona attorneys on March 2 and […]
Immigration Reform: The Echo That Can’t Be Ignored
The loud words “We need relief now!” echoed through the ballroom and paused President Obama mid-sentence. Open heckling, shouts, and insults met the President when he attended the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Awards Gala for the first time during his second term on October 2nd. The very demographic President Obama had once been proclaimed a “champion” […]
2014 Midterms Recap: What You Need to Know
Though one of the biggest stories from the midterm election results on Tuesday was the Republicans gaining control of the Senate, there were other significant stories as well. Not only were pollsters incorrect in predicting how close certain Senate races would be, many of the gubernatorial races went the way of the Republicans as well […]
Why a Loss for Hillary in 2016 Means a Win in 2020
Hillary Clinton will not win the Presidency come November 8th. When one leaves partisan backing and brinkmanship at the door it is clear that, due to a hundred years of political examples and an election cycle as old as the two party system, the writing is on the wall and the writing is red. For […]