I am old enough to remember when media coverage of politics – TV and radio only in those days – was governed by the FCC’s fairness doctrine. The fairness doctrine said, essentially, that if you wanted to report on an election, all sides, and all candidates, needed to be given equal time. This was both […]

From time to time, people who know how interested in politics I am ask me if I watch the Presidential debates.  I always reply: "No, I'm not interested," and try to change the subject. But why don't I want to watch?  There's plenty of drama.  Donald Trump talks about whatever comes into his head, without […]

"Politics is the art of the possible." The phrase, practically a cliché in political circles, is usually attributed to Otto von Bismarck , the Prussian politician who unified Germany in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century.  Bismarck, of course, said it in German : Die Politik ist die Lehre vom Möglichen.  The word he […]

For the ordinary citizen, the political season is a short two month period from Labor Day to the November election day of an even-numbered year.   Most ordinary civic-minded citizens of our democracy limit their interest to that brief expanse of time.  Sadly, an ever-increasing number of our citizens don't even have that much involvement..but […]

In an earlier post, I said, without further explanation that we are slouching towards oligarchy in this country.   I'd like to explain what I meant Oligarchy is an ugly word; for that matter, it is an ugly concept, especially to a small "d" democrat like myself - rule by an elite.  Slouching means to move […]

As we prepare for the 2016 campaign season, it's time for another of my brief essays.   Consider the following conversation: "Where'll we go for dinner tonight?" "I don't know - where would you like to go? "Maybe sushi...or pizza." "I don't feel like pizza - let's do sushi." "Ok." Sound familiar, even banal?   How many […]

In the last thirty years, I have attended a number of California  state-wide political conventions, mostly because my late wife, Pat Wiggins, was an active politician and officeholder.  Much useful work was done at these conventions on identifying public policy ideas and in developing relationships, but they had very little effect on the selection of […]

Guest Blogger Guy Conner It's about Climate Change Politics..

If we have a representative democracy in this country, that means, or should mean, that elected officials are the representatives of the people - they take our place, and represent our interests and well-being. One of the most pernicious ideas to gain currency in my lifetime is the notion that there is something inherently corrupting […]

[See my earlier post on polling here] Candidates in down-ticket races have  a problem - they need professional help to run their campaigns, but, unless they are independently wealthy, they usually  can't afford the price of a professional political consultant.  For small cities (in my area of California, we have a number of incorporated cities […]