Todd Lyden

via GIPHY I can't believe I'm finally writing this but why not? Hillary is so tone-deaf to how she lost, I don't need to read her book to understand how Trump was able to beat her with or without Russian assistance. Let's just look at the county where I work which is quintessential rural North Carolina and increasingly representative of rural America. At the end of the post, you will find the results of the last six elections going back to 2000. EXCEPT for Bush's re-election year in 2004 (which you will notice was VERY close), the DEMOCRAT has carried the county by at least a "clear majority." UNTIL this past election. That's right. A county that clearly went for Gore in 2000, Obama TWICE (with even an increase in votes for his re-election), CLEARLY rejected Hillary Clinton. Now before you turn this into a Clinton thing. Be clear: Bill Clinton CLOBBERED Bush in 1992 in Bladen with 55% of the vote and then repeated that statistic against D...

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution. Letter to Jonathan Jackson (2 October 1780), "The Works of John Adams", vol 9, p. 511 We were friggin' warned about the two party system. And we've ignored the admonition for so long, look at the election it has wrought us. This Anti-Media.org article from JP Sottile has it nailed in the title: "2016: The Final Season of the United States Reality Show."  The article goes on to compare what we are living in as the "Jumping of the Shark" in the show. Sadly, the truth is there and the reality to show for it: a LITERAL reality show candidate versus a woman who by most accounts has done literally almost ANY thing to be president. It's like selecting a presiden...

I come back to voting every election year, mainly because I am so thoroughly disappointed in the outcomes of our two-party system. And make no mistake, it is the party system that fails us. I talked about "how not to get out the vote"  - "vote even if you are disgusted?" UGH I've always liked this article about shaming "non-voting." I completely agree with the author:  "No one should have to justify exercising a right; rights, by definition, justify themselves. Nevertheless, for many people, not voting is an entirely rational choice: The cost of learning about the candidates and the issues often outweighs the benefit to be had from casting a ballot whose odds of making a significant difference in the outcome are infinitesimal." And for those that argue that you have a "civic duty to vote," please lay off the doody. I like what this guy has to say about the idea. Just because someone has the right to bear firearms does n...

As a former political science student and teacher, one thing that has ALWAYS bothered me about the electoral system in the United States: why does the public PAY for party primaries? I can understand the states being responsible for running their general elections to provide opportunity for their citizens to choose mayors, governors and all the way up to president, but for the life of me- why does the public pay for party primaries? FROM: http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2016/8/3/very-few-americans-nominated-trump-and-clinton.html Look at that graphic above. You can see how it works here:  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/01/us/elections/nine-percent-of-america-selected-trump-and-clinton.html?_r=0 Only 9% of the American public selected either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump via the party primary process! So, 9 out of ten of us are paying for the privilege of the remaining less than ten percent to have a chance to participate in what are private organiza...