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Video: David Levine Speaks to Philadelphia Election Official Seth Bluestein

Video: David Levine Speaks to Philadelphia Election Official Seth Bluestein
Ballots & Bagels Ep. 2: David Levine Speaks to Philadelphia Election Official Seth Bluestein

In episode 2 of the Alliance for Securing Democracy’s Ballots & Bagels series, Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine speaks to Seth Bluestein, city commissioner for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Board of Elections, about what we can learn from Pennsylvania’s May 17 primary election.

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Portrait of three young adults
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Youth are the change we need now

Wright is a youth leader at NM CAFe.

Politicians often proclaim that “youth are the future,” but they don’t listen to our voices or consider our opinions when making policies that will shape the future. The reality, however, is we don’t need to wait for young people to become changemakers — we already are changemakers. We are actively shaping the world through activism, raising our voices and organizing — and it’s time for politicians to take us seriously.

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Sen. John Ossof and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Sen. John Ossof and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer rank as 'builders' for their ability to work on significant issues that resonate beyond their districts.

A new kind of political scoreboard: The Builders Power Rankings​

Becvar is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and executive director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Fantasy football coaches take in their weekly scoreboard every Tuesday and analyze what went right and wrong over the weekend. They determine where the weaknesses are on their team and plan to adjust the lineup so that next week the scoreboard is more favorable. This Tuesday, while focusing on one of the country's most divisive presidential elections in history, Americans are also electing representatives from Congress down to village board. We have studied the facts, made our choices, and set our lineups. The decisions may have been easier if we'd had a scoreboard that ranked our lawmakers in a way that gave us insight into what adjustments to make.
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Donald Trump speaking

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Peter W. Stevenson /The Washington Post via Getty Images

Donald Trump's violent legacy

Monti is a professor of sociology at Saint Louis University.

Donald Trump presents himself as the greatest defender of American democracy since Abraham Lincoln. His monumental conceit might be dismissed out of hand, except for this: There is some merit to his boast. Surely not in the edifying way he intends but still deserving more serious attention than many Americans would be inclined to give it.

At the heart of the violent legacies left by Lincoln and Trump is the problem of order: imagining the kind of people Americans should become and harnessing the energy of a restive population whose own views on that question could not be ignored.

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Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Derek Kilmer

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Derek Kilmer, two congressional workhorses, are retiring at the end of the year.

Congress is losing some of its best players this year

Fitch is a former CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation and a former Capitol Hill staffer.

The college basketball world got a jolt to its system this month when beloved University of Virginia coach Tony Bennett announced his retirement. A big loss for the Cavaliers, and even a loss for the sport. When great leaders or players leave an industry, it can cause significant harm for their organization and the people they serve.

Similarly, at the end of the 118th Congress, the House and Senate will lose a greater number of “superstar players” than at almost any other time in recent memory. Most of these public servants are not household names, yet that is the definition of a “workhorse” in Congress (in contrast to a “show horse”). They show up, put their heads together and hammer out bill after bill to benefit the American people.

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