Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Blanket Primary

A nominating contest in which candidates from both major parties appear on the ballot. Voters select one candidate. The top Republican and Democratic vote-getters advance to the general election. This is one form of a "top-two" primary.

Read more about blanket primaries.

Read More

Kamala Harris on stage

Kamala Harris has focused her campaign on freedom.

Sara Stathas for the Washington Post

Why trying to protect freedom may work better than campaigning to protect democracy

Williams is an assistant Professor of Political Science, Allegheny College. Bloeser is an associate professor of political science and director of Center for Political Participation at Allegheny College.

When Joe Biden was the Democrats’ candidate for president in 2020 and again in 2024, he staked his candidacy on being the person who would save democracy from the threat Donald Trump posed.

But Kamala Harris has shifted away from that message and toward the idea of protecting and advancing freedom. Freedom has become the theme of many Harris campaign ads and speeches. Her slogan “we are not going back” is meant to invoke concern about freedoms being taken away.

Keep ReadingShow less
Woman with pink ribbon
Issarawat Tattong/Getty Images

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a model for blurred lines

Johnson is a United Methodist pastor, the author of "Holding Up Your Corner: Talking About Race in Your Community" and program director for the Bridge Alliance, which houses The Fulcrum.

It is rare to find issues that bridge partisan lines and unite Americans across the ideological spectrum. Breast Cancer Awareness Month stands as a powerful exception.

Observed annually in October, BCAM has evolved from grassroots beginnings into a global movement, reshaping our understanding of breast cancer and, in the process, demonstrating the potential for collective action to address a shared health crisis. Almost every American citizen knows someone experiencing some form of cancer, particularly breast cancer. The BCAM model, I purport, offers valuable lessons in how to participate in our nation's social contract more faithfully in polarizing times.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eric Adams

New York Mayor Eric Adams is seen leaving Manhattan federal court on Sept. 27.

Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Images)

Eric Adams is trying on Donald Trump’s playbook

Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.

It’s the go-to play nowadays.

If you’re a politician collared for alleged crimes, feign indignation, call it a “conspiracy,” blame the “corrupt” Department of Justice, and refuse to resign.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on five federal charges related to 2021 campaign contributions, wire fraud, and bribery. The scathing 57-page indictment was unsealed on Thursday, and according to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, Adams was “showered” with gifts from foreign entities — namely Turkey — that he knew were illegal.

Keep ReadingShow less
Close-up of boy looking at his phone in the dark
Anastasiia Sienotova/Getty Images

Reality bytes: Kids confuse the real world with the screen world

Patel is an executive producer/director, the creator of “ConnectEffect” and a Builders movement partner.

Doesn’t it feel like summer break just began? Yet here we are again. Fall’s arrival means kids have settled into a new school year with new teachers, new clothes and a new “attitude” for parents and kids alike, to start on the right foot.

Yet it’s hard for any of us to find footing in an increasingly polarized and isolated world. The entire nation is grappling with a rising tide of mental health concerns — including the continually increasing alienation and loneliness in children — and parents are struggling to foster real human connection for their kids in the real world. The battle to minimize screen time is certainly one approach. But in a world that is based on screens, apps and social media, is it a battle that realistically can be won?

Keep ReadingShow less

Meet the change leaders: Scott Klug

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

After a 14-year career as an Emmy-winning reporter, Scott Klug upset a 32-year Democratic House member from Wisconsin in 1990. Despite winning four elections with an average of 63 percent of the vote, he stayed true to his term limit pledge and retired in January 1999.

But during his time in office, Klug says, he had the third most independent voting record of any member of Congress from Wisconsin in the last 50 years.

Keep ReadingShow less