When the annals of the 2020 presidential nominations process and general election are written, the role of the Illinois Primary, along with its counterparts in Florida and Arizona on the same day, will be marked as uniquely important turning points in the long and chaotic road to the White House. Understanding that role depends on
Almost every U.S. schoolchild knows that democracy means “the people rule” or “government by the people,” or some variation on that theme. Right? Well, not really. The world is a lot more complicated than that and includes the fact that intense and mobilized minorities exercise an impact on public policy far in excess of what
The most appropriate aphorism for the 2012 general election may be, “Never has so much money and effort been spent on so few people with such uncertain effect.” This brief summary of the fall campaign results from the confluence of two quite different electoral developments. The first is the recent – and growing – ideological
America’s national political conventions are actually two big productions presented simultaneously for two quite different but interrelated audiences - the convention-goers and the mass audience reached through the media.
First, there are thousands of convention delegates, alternates, media people and camp followers inside whatever big arena the national parties have chosen to host their conventions. It
