July, 2014 - LINDA J. KILLIAN

The GOP Chose Ohio for Its 2016 Convention. Should Democrats Too?

Posted on July 8, 2014 by lindajkillian

July 8, 2014

The GOP was smart to choose Cleveland to host the 2016 Republican National Convention, even though, as The Journal’s Reid Epstein points out, that doesn’t mean Republicans can count on carrying Ohio in the presidential election. It is, however, all but certain that without Ohio the GOP would have almost no chance of winning the White House. Ohio is the swingiest of swing states and has been closely divided politically for a century. Its governorship has been passed back and forth between Republicans and Democrats since 1899, with neither party holding it for more than eight years.
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The House Ethics Committee’s U-Turn on Disclosure

Posted on July 7, 2014 by lindajkillian

July 7, 2014

After sharp criticism, the House Ethics Committee reversed itself on changing how lawmakers publicly report trips financed by interest groups. Just two days after the change was first reported last week, the bipartisan panel decided House members would continue filing information about privately funded trips in their annual finance reports.
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Candidates in Maine, Nebraska, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., Challenge Republicans and Democrats Alike

Posted on July 5, 2014July 17, 2024 by lindajkillian

July 5, 2014

Meet the non-partisan candidates changing American politics. Innovate. Disrupt. Solve problems. This mantra of the hi-tech revolution has brought fundamental change to virtually every area of American life except one—politics. America’s polarized politics are mired in a dysfunctional and increasingly unpopular two-party system that has failed to address this nation’s major challenges and threatens its future. The approval rating for Congress—which just had its least productive year since at least the early 1990s—is at a historical low of roughly 13 percent. Less than a third of Americans have confidence in President Barack Obama’s leadership and voters have an even dimmer view of his Republican opponents. More than 40 percent of Americans now identify as political independents, a larger number than either Republicans or Democrats. And this anti-partisan trend has not gone unnoticed by aspiring office holders.
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Independence Day Disconnect

Posted on July 4, 2014 by lindajkillian

July 4, 2014

As Americans observe the Fourth of July and celebrate the birth of this nation, the disconnect between people’s reverence for the principles on which this nation was founded and how they feel about contemporary American institutions and political leaders is striking. A Gallup poll this week showed record low confidence in Congress and the Supreme Court. Fewer than a third of Americans have confidence in Barack Obama‘s presidential leadership.
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How Colorado’s Gubernatorial Primary Could Affect Its Senate Race

Posted on July 1, 2014 by lindajkillian

July 1, 2014

National Republican leaders were probably relieved at the outcome of last Tuesday’s GOP gubernatorial primary in the swing state of Colorado, in part because it could have a significant spillover effect on another Colorado race: the fight for a U.S. Senate seat. In the governor’s race, establishment Republican Bob Beauprez, a former U.S. representative who has run for governor before, won the primary–and the chance to challenge Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, a former mayor of Denver.
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