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Castro, Klobuchar put voting rights at forefront of social media efforts

The Washington Post recently released a nifty analysis of the policy issues most often mentioned on social media last month by the candidates seeking or exploring the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Post analyzed more than 5,600 social media posts from 15 candidates, coding keywords under eight broad categories. Policy-centric posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram that included terms such as "electoral college," "filibuster" or "gerrymandering," for instance, were tagged as posts on "Voting Rights." "Campaign finance," "monopolies" and "lobbyists" fell under "Corporate Power."


Julian Castro, who served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration, topped the list of candidates in the percentage of his policy posts that focused on voting rights (22 percent). Sen. Amy Klobuchar (20 percent) was second. For both candidates, voting rights was their top policy issue on social media, according to the analysis.

Warren was first among candidates in the percentage of policy posts mentioning "corporate power" — 30 percent — although "a significant portion" of those posts were solely on "her plan to break up Amazon, Google and Facebook," the Post explains.

Klobuchar (13 percent), Sen. Bernie Sanders (12 percent) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (11 percent) were the other candidates whose percentages reached double digits on the issue of "corporate power."


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Kevin Kiley Left the Republican Party Over Gerrymandering. Now He's Testing Whether an Independent Can Beat the Map Drawn to Defeat Him.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

Kevin Kiley Left the Republican Party Over Gerrymandering. Now He's Testing Whether an Independent Can Beat the Map Drawn to Defeat Him.

Independent voters now represent the largest share of the American electorate, and yet they remain almost entirely unrepresented in Congress. Both major parties have spent decades optimizing for their bases, leaving the near majority of Americans who identify as independent with the choice of either voting for a party candidate they don't fully support or staying home.

A handful of high-profile independent candidates are trying to change that in 2026. They are often covered as fringe candidates whose stories are told through the lens of how they'll impact the outcome between a Republican and a Democrat, rather than on their own terms. This series exists because independent voters deserve better than that.

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Veterans Day. US soldiers. US army. USA patch flag on the US military uniform and USA flag.

A record number of veterans, especially women veterans, are running for Congress in 2026, bringing military leadership and public service to the campaign trail.

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In Lady Veterans We Trust

Many people who have served, or are still serving in the military, are not thrilled with the state of our country. There are plenty of active duty members who wish they could quit–and many of them are in my DMs asking for my advice–which might be why the number of military personnel inquiring about conscientious objection has risen by 1,000% since the start of the Iran war. Whether they joined to patriotically serve their country or simply for the promise of stability and upward mobility, a draft dodger who “finds the notion of military service difficult to understand, and the idea of volunteering to serve especially incomprehensible” is now holding them hostage in an indefinite war against Iran.

Veterans feel an obligation to speak up against the betrayal. 752 of them are running for Congress in 2026. A record number of them are women.

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In this photo illustration, Predictions market sites are shown on electronic devices on February 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Online prediction market platforms, such as Polymarket and Kalshi, allow people to place bets on wide-ranging subjects such as sports, finance, politics and currents events.

Prediction markets are expanding beyond finance into politics, war, and public policy. Explore the ethical, democratic, and legislative questions they raise.

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Betting on Crisis: Why Prediction Markets Are a Threat to Democratic Trust

Imagine opening an app on your phone and placing a bet on whether peace talks between two countries will fail, a conflict will escalate, or a terrorist attack will occur before the end of the year.

For a growing number of people, that is no longer a hypothetical scenario.

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AI Chatbots for Kids Should Act Like Tools, Not Friends

Close-up of AI chatbot on mobile

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AI Chatbots for Kids Should Act Like Tools, Not Friends

During the rise of the Internet, as the World Wide Web moved from government and academic settings to family homes, parents worried about the exposure of their children to predators in online chatrooms. A generation later, as social media became central to young people’s lives, the dangers of platforms like Facebook and Instagram to children’s mental health moved to the forefront of the national conversation.

Now, as lawmakers and parents continue to grapple with how to keep children safe on social media, there’s a new danger already taking shape: AI-powered chatbots that simulate friendship, emotional intimacy, and care with children who may not be able to tell the difference.

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