Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Politicians, philanthropists latest working to assure public that election is fair

Detroiit voters

VoteSafe is running ad campaigns in Michigan (and other states) to convince conservative and independent voters that the election is safe and secure.

Brittany Greeson/Getty Images

In the latest in a string of such efforts, a group of prominent political leaders and one of leading philanthropists are trying to spread the word that this election is safe and secure — and will be accurate.

The organizers of these and other campaigns are facing a much more skeptical and worried electorate than usual — thanks to the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump's steady drumbeat of assertions without evidence that record mail-in voting is riven with fraud.


The first group, VoteSafe, is led by Republican Tom Ridge, a former governor of Pennsylvania and Homeland Security secretary, and Democrat Jennifer Granholm, a former governor of Michigan.

VoteSafe has unveiled a $1.7 million advertising campaign featuring local election officials reassuring voters that the election is safe and secure. The "guardians of democracy" campaign is beginning in four battleground states: Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The digital ads are targeting independent voters in the four states. In Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, ads targeting conservatives are appearing on Fox News.

In the Michigan ad, Walker City Clerk Sarah Bydalek says, "Absentee voting in Michigan is nothing new. I can assure you our system is safe and secure. We have a strict verification and ID process once your ballot arrives."

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

"Whether you vote in person or by mail, have faith, your vote will be counted," Bydalek says.

Meanwhile, about 115 philanthropic leaders have signed a letter calling for safe elections in which all votes are counted and the results accepted peacefully.

The letter, reported this week by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, cites the highly partisan and inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the election.

Among those signing the letter are Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn; Nicole Taylor, president of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; Rachel Hoff, policy director of the Ronald Reagan Institute; and Larry Kramer, head of the Hewlett Foundation.

"These are giant warning signs for American democracy, for civil society, and for most of the issues about which philanthropy is concerned," the letter states.

It urges leaders of all types and ordinary Americans to make sure "the sacred right to vote is upheld."

Read More

The Evolving Social Contract: From Common Good to Contemporary Practice

An illustration of hands putting together a puzzle.

Getty Images, cienpies

The Evolving Social Contract: From Common Good to Contemporary Practice

The concept of the common good in American society has undergone a remarkable transformation since the nation's founding. What began as a clear, if contested, vision of collective welfare has splintered into something far more complex and individualistic. This shift reflects changing times and a fundamental reimagining of what we owe each other as citizens and human beings.

The nation’s progenitors wrestled with this very question. They drew heavily from Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who saw the social contract as a sacred covenant between citizens and their government. But they also pulled from deeper wells—the Puritan concept of the covenant community, the classical Republican tradition of civic virtue, and the Christian ideal of serving one's neighbor. These threads wove into something uniquely American: a vision of the common good that balances individual liberty with collective responsibility.

Keep ReadingShow less
We’ve Collectively Created the Federal Education Collapse

Students in a classroom.

Getty Images, Maskot

We’ve Collectively Created the Federal Education Collapse

“If we make money the object of man-training, we shall develop money-makers but not necessarily men.” - W.E.B. Du Bois

The current state of public education has many confused, anxious, and even fearful. Depending on the day, I feel any combination of the above, among other less-than-ideal adjectives. Simply, the future is uncertain. Schools are simultaneously cutting budgets and trying to remain relevant, all during an increasingly tense political climate.

Keep ReadingShow less
Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

An oversized gavel surrounded by people.

Getty Images, J Studios

Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

In a recent post we quoted a journalist describing the Republican Party as anti-immigration. Many of our readers wrote back angrily to say that the Republican party is only opposed to immigrants who are present illegally.

But that's not true. And we're not shy of telling it like it is.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Importance of Respecting Court Orders
brown wooden chess piece on brown book

The Importance of Respecting Court Orders

The most important question in American politics today is whether Donald Trump will respect court orders. Judges have repeatedly ruled against his administration.

But will he listen?

Keep ReadingShow less