What happened to that ‘blue wave’?

… As Americans have polarized, both the Democratic and Republican parties have become ever more central to politics. However, they have simultaneously lost their capacity to organize an effective collective response to social challenges. Democrats in particular have historically paid sporadic and superficial attention to the mechanics of voter engagement […] Read more »

Tales and takeaways from 28 years of covering the Wisconsin Primary

Welcome to the most important Wisconsin presidential primary since Kennedy beat Humphrey — and maybe the wildest ever. I’ve only covered the last eight. This is one is in a league of its own, but there are threads that connect it to the past. CONT. Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel Read more »

As Trump and Sanders rise, the two major parties fall

Does the 2016 presidential campaign seem chaotic? For good or ill, that’s because it is. The rise of Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left is proof that the country’s two major political parties have lost their grip on the nominating process. They can still provide […] Read more »

What Howard Dean’s top political mind thinks of Bernie Sanders

Joe Trippi was the mastermind behind the rise of former Gov. Howard Dean in the 2004 Democratic presidential primary fight. Dean’s candidacy — premised on representing the “Democratic wing of the Democratic party” — stoked massive grassroots energy and took the party establishment by storm. Sound familiar? I reached out […] Read more »