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China and Russia Condemn U.S. Strike on Iran—but Stay on the Sidelines

China and Russia Condemn U.S. Strike on Iran—but Stay on the Sidelines

Voter registration

With Ranked Choice Voting in NYC, Women Win

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The stars come out for voting, thanks to Michelle Obama

Shonda Rimes, Kerry Washington, Tracee Ellis Ross

Michelle Obama has added a half-dozen celebrities to her voter participation efforts, including (from left) Shonda Rimes, Kerry Washington and Tracee Ellis Ross.

Christopher Polk/Getty Images
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumNov 12, 2019
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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Michelle Obama is stepping up the celebrity power of her effort to promote voting.

The former first lady announced last week that she is adding singer Selena Gomez, actress Liza Koshy, television producer Shonda Rhimes, soccer star Megan Rapinoe, actress Tracee Ellis Ross and actress Kerry Washington as co-chairwomen of When We All Vote.

The national organization was created before the 2018 midterms as a nonpartisan, nonprofit group aiming to increasing voter participation.

Obama is a co-chairwoman, along with composer Lin-Manual Miranda, singer Faith Hill, actor Tom Hanks, actress Rita Wilson, and basketball star Chris Paul. Before the election a year ago, the group organized 2,500 local voter registration events across the country and texted nearly 4 million voters the resources needed to register and vote.

The effort was given some credit for a dramatic reversal in participation. Turnout in 2018 was the highest for a midterm in a century, after 2014 saw the smallest turnout for a midterm since World War II.




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Open Primaries Topic Creates a Major Tension for Independents

Open primaries create fine opportunities for citizens who are registered as independents or unaffiliated voters to vote for either Democrats or Republicans in primary elections, but they tacitly undermine the mission of those independents who are opposed to both major parties by luring them into establishment electoral politics. Indeed, independents who are tempted to support independent candidates or an independent political movement can be converted to advocates of our duopoly if their states have one form or another of Open Primaries.

Twenty U.S. states currently have Open Primaries for at least one political party at the presidential, congressional, and state levels, including Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. At least 15 states conduct "semi-closed" primaries, a middle position in which unaffiliated voters still have an option to choose to vote in one of the major party primaries.

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Senator Maggie Hassan Tops National Rankings for Cross-Party Work

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, greets Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) as she arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.

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Senator Maggie Hassan Tops National Rankings for Cross-Party Work

Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) is the most bipartisan member of Congress per the rankings of multiple organizations.

According to the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Americans in 2023 stated that having political conversations with those who have different political beliefs are “stressful” and “frustrating,” a 10 percent increase from 2016. But Sen. Hassan said the best way she finds common ground with her colleagues, regardless of political affiliation, is to discuss what they are hearing from their constituents since she finds Americans across the country are experiencing many problems.

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Congress Bill Spotlight: Congress Meeting in Philadelphia on Declaration of Independence 250th Anniversary

New legislation would convene Congress at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the site of the Declaration of Independence’s signing on July 4, 1776, for the 250th anniversary on July 2, 2026.

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Congress Bill Spotlight: Congress Meeting in Philadelphia on Declaration of Independence 250th Anniversary

Hopefully, Nicolas Cage wouldn’t steal it this time, like he did in 2004’s implausible adventure movie National Treasure.

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Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Since the development of American mass media culture in the mid-20th century, numerous examples of entertainment media have tried to improve attitudes towards those who have traditionally held little power.

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Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Entertainment has been used for decades to improve attitudes toward other groups, both in the U.S. and abroad. One can think of movies like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, helping change attitudes toward Black Americans, or TV shows like Rosanne, helping humanize the White working class. Efforts internationally show that media can sometimes improve attitudes toward two groups concurrently.

Substantial research shows that Americans now hold overly negative views of those across the political spectrum. Let's now learn from decades of experience using entertainment to improve attitudes of those in other groups—but also from counter-examples that have reinforced stereotypes and whose techniques should generally be avoided—in order to improve attitudes toward fellow Americans across politics. This entertainment can allow Americans across the political spectrum to have more accurate views of each other while realizing that successful cross-ideological friendships and collaborations are possible.

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