In this episode, Andre and Todd discuss their different views on the threat of racial violence, whether anyone is capable of being pushed to violence, what’s behind the caution that Andre brings to Black-white relationships, and how canceling each other’s views and experiences impedes our ability to have open, honest conversations about race.
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Nearly 50 million young adults can vote in 2026, but many doubt it matters. Why civic education, civic seals, and preregistration must start in high school.
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Welcoming Youth Voters Into Democracy
Oct 26, 2026
Nearly 50 million young people ages 18-29 will be eligible to vote this November, including an estimated eight million who have become newly eligible since the 2024 election. The conversation about this voting bloc tends to focus on two big questions: what will it take to get young people to the polls, and which party will capture their vote? But these are exactly the wrong questions to be asking about a generation of young people who view civic institutions with skepticism and distrust. At a time of deep political polarization and growing social isolation, we cannot narrow civic engagement down to the ballot box or let partisan divides distract us from the long-term work of building civic participation.
Despite persistent narratives about youth disengagement, Gen Z cares deeply about a range of issues and the country’s future. According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, 89% of youth are willing to vote and a large majority are willing to talk to friends and family about the issues they care about. Yet 44% are unsure whether their vote matters or do not believe that it does, posing a risk for voter turnout. The disconnect reflects a gap between caring about political issues and believing their participation can make a difference.
That gap is part of a broader lack of trust in whether democracy is working for young people. Only 16% say democracy is working well for their generation, and many say they do not feel heard or represented. Economic concerns, which cut across demographics and political beliefs, further compound that sense of disempowerment. Building this trust cannot happen only at election time. Young people need meaningful opportunities to participate in civic life, develop their voices, and see that their participation can make a difference before, during, and after elections. That means more than a registration form and a reminder to get to the polls. They need the knowledge, confidence, agency, and experience to understand issues, evaluate choices, and see themselves as participants in democracy.
This kind of civic immersion can’t wait until college or career. Yet most voter engagement efforts focus on young people once they are eligible to vote, often once they reach college. This trend reinforces a transactional relationship with politics rather than cultivating lasting civic engagement. If we want lifelong participants in democracy, we cannot wait until young people are eligible to vote to engage them.
A thriving democracy needs quality, generationally relevant on-ramps to help young people get excited about and enter into the democratic habits of collective self-government. Accessible information and voter activation are important. But they can only go so far if we haven't built the civic foundation that helps young people engage in the first place.
The work starts earlier, in schools, which remain the local cornerstones of public life in many of America’s communities. High school is a critical period for developing civic identity, confidence, and agency. Research shows that feeling like your voice matters is connected to both voting and broader civic action. CIRCLE research found that 81% of students who strongly felt their voices and opinions mattered in high school said they were extremely likely to vote. The relationship also extended to broader civic action. Young people must see themselves as protagonists whose voices can shape the decisions and communities around them.
Sustainable, long-range policy planning can help make that journey possible and equitable. Civic seals in New York and California are excellent examples of policy activating youth civic engagement. In both states, over 22,000 graduating seniors receive diploma seals that recognize — and celebrate — their development of civic knowledge, identity, and skills that contribute to community-based problem solving.
The next step is making it easier for young people to become voters when they are ready. Public policies such as preregistration at 16 and expanding access to voter registration at 18 can help make meaningful civic learning and participation accessible to every young person.
When robust voting education and voting registration opportunities happen in a pre-college setting, research indicates the high potential for the habit to become stickier, rather than that work beginning in a postsecondary context. RISE Vote, a nonpartisan voter registration initiative led by Generation Citizen, New Voters, and The Civics Center, is an example of what earlier engagement looks like. The initiative provides high school students with the tools and resources to register, become informed, and participate in the election. With 200 high school voter registration events slated to take place through Spring 2027, what distinguishes RISE Vote from other youth voting initiatives is that it meets young people before college and treats voter engagement as part of broader civic development, rather than a one-time turnout effort.
Whether the opportunity is civic seals or nonpartisan voter pre-registration, sustainable policy prioritizes the engagement and entrance of young folks into America’s public life.
The 2026 midterms, in an important respect, transcend questions of party affiliation. From a civic leadership development standpoint, it offers an important opportunity to engage a new generation of voters in the political process. If we want young people to become lifelong participants in democracy, we need to cultivate their voice, agency, and civic knowledge long before we ask them to cast a ballot. That’s not just work facing young people. It’s up to all of us to drive it forward.
Andrew Wilkes serves as Generation Citizen’s Chief Policy & Advocacy Officer, where he leads GC’s thought leadership, coalition building, and policy initiatives as a part of the national leadership team.
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After voting for the first time, the proud mother puts an "I voted" sticker on her daughter.
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The Surge of Independent Voters: Why Open Primaries Are Democratically Necessary
Oct 26, 2026
Across the United States, traditional political affiliations are shifting as a growing segment of the electorate steps away from major-party labels. Jeremy Gruber, senior vice president at Open Primaries, a national nonpartisan organization dedicated to expanding nonpartisan voter access, highlighted this dramatic evolution in voter registration and the structural hurdles these voters face in the latest episode of The Fulcrum Roundtable.
The decline in major-party allegiance is not temporary but a sustained movement that has been building over several decades.
"Until the 1980s, 90% of voters in this country were part of the Republican and Democratic parties," Gruber explained. "And ever since, the fastest-growing group of voters in this country has been independent voters. Now today, independent voters are 47% of the country in terms of identification."
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Gruber notes that independents now represent "the largest group of voters in 10 states by registration and the second largest group of voters in most others." States like Kentucky exemplify this trend, where "more Kentuckians registered as independents than as Republicans or Democrats combined" during recent registration periods.
According to Gruber, voters are leaving established parties, or not registering with them in the first place, because they're frustrated with polarization and a lack of progress.
"Voters are tired. They're tired of red meat partisan politics. They're tired of the partisanship and polarization that are driving both parties," Gruber said. "They're just tired of the parties not achieving what they are claiming that they're there to achieve, which is progress, right? Which is to make their lives better as voters and as Americans."
He adds that major party platforms have narrowed over time, driving voters to look elsewhere for solutions.
"Both parties had a much larger, more broadly outlooked platforms for a very long time, and both parties' platforms have tended to contract and become much more ideologically focused," Gruber noted. "That has pushed a lot of voters to say, 'Look, there are parts of this party's platform that may appeal to me, and there are parts of this other party's platform that may appeal to me, but one party or the other is not where I live politically anymore.'"
Instead of ideological purity, Gruber emphasizes that "what most Americans want is common sense. They want common-sense answers, common-sense solutions. And neither party is providing that for a lot of Americans, and that's why they're looking for something else."
Despite paying taxes that fund primary elections, millions of independent voters across the country remain barred from participating in closed primaries. However, Gruber argues that party leadership already possesses the legal authority to change those rules without legislative overhauls.
"The Supreme Court has ruled that the political parties have the unilateral right... We have a First Amendment right of association," Gruber pointed out. "Parties are private entities... and the Supreme Court has said either party, Democrat or Republican, can open their primary to independent voters in any state."
While state parties in several jurisdictions have opened their primaries, others remain closed due to internal party dynamics.
"In a lot of places, the leadership of the parties is oftentimes very distanced from the average voter who's a member of that party," Gruber said. "It's much more ideological, and it's much more focused on power and control rather than the simple issues of fundamental fairness... Party leadership has their own interests, and those interests don't necessarily align with opening the primary to voters who are not affiliated with that party."
To bridge that gap and advance election reform, Gruber stresses the importance of grassroots organizing and direct voter storytelling.
"Independent voters in particular in this country are so misunderstood in a widespread way, and everybody puts their fears of the 'other' onto independent voters," Gruber observed. "There's nothing strange about or unusual about them. They're just like everybody else in their community. They just don't want to join a party in order to participate in a public election."
Gruber concluded that achieving nonpartisan access depends on voters demanding equal representation.
"It's only when the voters, independents and party voters alike, put pressure on their party officials and their elected officials that change... is going to start to happen in even more effective ways."
The Fulcrum Roundtable is a program where columnists join for deeper, on‑the‑record discussions about issues shaping American governance and civic participation.
This episode is part of The Fulcrum's partnership with IVN and The Latino News Network to expand voter‑first journalism and strengthen public‑centered coverage of democracy.
Hugo Balta is the executive editor of The Fulcrum and the publisher of the Latino News Network,.
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Two voting booths
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A Divide in the Nation: Will the People Save the Republic?
Oct 26, 2026
With Election Day rapidly approaching, I ask a question that feels heavier than any in recent memory: Will the people save the Republic? Not the politicians comfortable in their silence. Not the billionaires who treat democracy as an investment. Not the parties that have drifted from principle. The people.
Yesterday, my mail‑in ballot arrived. I felt relief that my right to vote had not been taken away, restricted, or quietly undermined. In a year when rights have been challenged, receiving a ballot reminded me that self‑government belongs to us. But a ballot is not protection. It is only potential. Its power lies with those who use it.
The danger is not that Americans disagree. Disagreement is part of democracy. The danger comes when loyalty to a party or leader matters more than the Constitution, accountability, and the common good. Election deniers have no place in government — local, state, or federal — because rejecting certified results violates the oath to uphold the Constitution. When that happens, the Republic is weakened from within.
Benjamin Franklin understood. Asked what kind of government the framers had created, he answered, “A republic, if you can keep it.” He understood human nature: people drift and become loyal to personalities instead of principles. His warning was not about 1787 — it was about every generation that would follow. It was about us.
Representative John Lewis carried that warning forward. He called the vote “the most powerful nonviolent tool we have,” reminding us that its strength comes from those who wield it. He also said, “When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something, to do something.” Today, there is so much wrong — rights revoked, people of color treated poorly, DEI dismantled, health care threatened, election interference normalized, corruption tolerated. The question is whether Americans will act.
I see this divide in conversations with family and friends. Some feel suppressed, frustrated, or angry. Others seem to have forgotten that the Republic depends on their participation and vigilance. Democracy is not maintained by spectators. It is maintained by citizens who understand their power.
Over the next few days, I will research unfamiliar candidates. I will not vote for the House member who has ignored my questions for more than a year. He voted to eliminate the Affordable Care Act without a plan for millions whose premiums skyrocketed, then remained silent through distractions, chaos, and corruption — when leadership demanded accountability, constituents needed clarity, and the country needed courage.
Instead of fighting for affordable health care, lower costs, or stronger checks and balances, my representative proposed a Charlie Kirk Commemorative Coin Bill. A coin — while families struggle, corruption spreads, and Congress avoids its constitutional duty. A coin, when people needed protection, honesty, and leadership. That is not representation. That is abandonment dressed up as legislation. The issue is not whether Congress can pass commemorative legislation. It is whether representatives are meeting their constitutional responsibilities while people face problems demanding attention.
I will vote with clarity and remembrance — of promises never kept, silence louder than any speech, and drift that has pulled this country from its principles.
My concern is whether millions of Americans will vote with the same clarity and remembrance. Will they recall the chaos, cruelty, corruption, injustice, and erosion of rights — and how many promises were broken or never meant to be kept?
The framers understood that concentrated power threatened liberty. They built a constitutional republic — not a monarchy, not a personality cult, not a system where silence replaces oversight. They created checks and balances to prevent leaders from placing themselves above the law. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, not a suggestion to ignore when inconvenient.
Yet constitutional principles have been bent, stretched, and dismissed. Congress has failed to exercise its powers, elected leaders have treated accountability as optional and party loyalty as more important than their oath, and concentrated power has grown because those entrusted to check it have failed to act. Meanwhile, the administration’s conduct has deepened divisions across communities, families, and institutions.
How did we get here?
We drifted. We tolerated silence. We excused cruelty. We normalized corruption. We allowed partisanship to replace principle. We forgot that self‑government requires vigilance.
Some people remain loyal to leaders despite lies and broken promises. Others fall for political theatrics, emotional manipulation, or financial gimmicks. But the Republic cannot be kept by loyalty alone. It can only be kept by clarity — by voters who remember what has happened, recognize deceit, and refuse to be misled by money or power.
This country is diverse — racially, economically, politically, spiritually. Yet the question before us is not about diversity. It is about democracy. Will we vote for democracy? Will we vote for accountability, transparency, and constitutional responsibility? Or will we vote for drift — a slow slide into concentrated power, partisan loyalty, and congressional silence?
Many Americans swore they would vote differently in 2024. They said they had had enough. They were tired of lies, retaliation, and cruelty. But when the moment came, party loyalty prevailed for many over their expressed concerns. The result was not transformation. It was continuation.
Now, in 2026, the stakes are higher. Americans say they are tired of lies, retaliation, and cruelty. But will the votes show it? Will Americans make a plan to vote? Will they vote early, informed, and with intention? Or will they hesitate and allow the drift to continue?
Solutions exist — but they require action, not slogans.
Make a plan to vote. Know when, where, and how you will cast your ballot.
Research your candidates. Know what they stand for and whether they have honored their oath. If they are new to leadership, listen closely to their debates, speeches, and interviews. Pay attention to how they speak about the Constitution, accountability, and the people they hope to serve.
Vote with clarity — not noise, chaos, or conspiracy.
Be politically literate. Understand the Constitution and the dangers of concentrated power.
Remember the history of lies, deceit, and cruelty. Memory is a safeguard. Forgetting is a risk.
A constitutional republic requires leaders who respect the Constitution, not bend it.
Know your power. The framers placed the ultimate safeguard in the hands of the people — a power that does not end at the ballot box. It continues when citizens demand answers, monitor representatives, and hold them accountable. Voting opens the door to accountability; civic participation keeps it open.
The Republic does not disappear overnight. It slips away through silence, distraction, unchecked power, and leaders who place themselves above the people. It slips away when voters surrender their judgment to party labels. It slips away when Congress forgets its oath and citizens forget their role in self‑government.
The question is immediate and personal: Will enough Americans vote to save the Republic? Will they vote with clarity, remembrance, and courage? Will they vote for accountability rather than loyalty? Will they vote for democracy rather than drift?
Because the Republic is not saved by voting alone, but by citizens who understand what is at stake, hold elected officials accountable, and refuse to place party loyalty above the Constitution.
I know how I will vote. I know why I will vote. And I know what is at stake.
The ballot is in our hands. The Constitution is in our hands. The future is in our hands.
Will the people save the Republic?
We will know soon — not by what Americans say, but by how Americans vote.
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Carolyn Goode is a retired educational leader and former principal who spent her career advancing civic responsibility, equity, and public engagement. She writes about democracy, ethical leadership, and the values that strengthen American communities.
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Faith in America, a coalition of faith and civic groups, invites you to Praying for America on Nov. 1 to honor voting as a sacred right ahead of Nov. 3.
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Protecting the Sacred Right to Vote and America’s Democratic Future
Oct 26, 2026
Beneath all the chaos, clamor, confusion, and endless attempts to tell the American electorate how to vote is the commitment, enshrined in the Constitution, that we have the right to vote. The freedom to vote is the foundation of American democracy, and exercising that right sustains it. Shortly after he was first elected President, Ronald Reagan called voting the “most sacred right of free men and women.” In that same speech on November 7, 1981, he remarked: “For this nation to remain true to its principles, we cannot allow any American’s vote to be denied, diluted, or defiled. The right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties, and we will not see its luster diminished.”
We sanctify our values and bolster our democracy when we vote. The right to vote gives the electorate power. It is the power to choose – freely and fairly. America introduced this power to the world two and a half centuries ago, and it has both transformed the operational dynamics of many other countries and has helped shape a more hopeful future, not just for America but for the entire world. We cannot take this power for granted. And it needs to be protected.
A growing number of faith-based and civic bridge-building organizations are deeply engaged in promoting and preserving that sacred right by championing free, fair, and safe elections through a program called Faith in America. This coalition brings together nationally recognized leaders including Braver Angels, Interfaith America, faith250, Paths to Understanding, Listen First, and the National Institute for Civil Discourse. Its signature event is coming up on November 1st, and it will be an inspiring and joyful celebration of American values, American elections, and America’s freedoms, including the freedom of religion. Register for the November 1st event right here: Praying for America - we’d love to have you join us.
Here are two beautiful comments among so many from a previous Praying for America event: “This gathering is helping me feel much more hopeful. And I can now go out with more faith in humanity. I have been close to giving up. And now I won't!” and “This program has made me want to invite my neighbors of many different faiths to actually go together to vote this week. What a beautiful way to stand in solidarity and love as we perform this important civic duty together.”
While each religious tradition involved in the Faith in America expresses its beliefs differently, we all share a deep love for and faith in America. We also feel an urgent need to express that love and faith collaboratively. In addition, we open our arms and hearts to those who are not active members of a faith community - if you care deeply about American democracy as embodied in free, fair, and safe elections, you are very much welcome!
The Latin root of the religion is religio, which refers to the practices, symbols, and narratives that bind people together. To re–lig, which involves bringing the various ligaments together to produce a web of strength and a witness of hope. We have been blessed with a virtual library of America’s sacred documents and songs, which are some of the ligaments of our democracy. Among them are the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address, and America the Beautiful. These civic treasures help hold us together as a country. We read and sing them. We honor them, and by doing so, we renew our commitment to America's extraordinary legacy.
Voting is a power, a power which not only stands up against more aggressive displays of power but can ultimately transform them. Promoting free, fair, and safe elections burnishes the crown jewel of American liberty and, at the same time, protects and preserves this sacred trust. Voting is a right, a responsibility, and also a call to action. As we prepare for November 3, let us pray for the officials and volunteers who administer our election process, for every voter, for every candidate who has offered themselves for election, and for our neighbors whose ballots differ from our own. While many of us care deeply about who gets elected this November, more important than who wins is that the election is free, fair, and safe, and thereby honors the will of the American people.
Cheryl Graeve is Program Director & National Organizer, National Institute for Civil Discourse.
Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith is the retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark (NJ) and co-chair of Braver Faith, a division of Braver Angels.
Brian Clancy is a board member of the Listen First Project.
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