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Kentuckians and their senior senator diverge on democracy reform, poll finds

Perhaps Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not as invulnerable as he sometimes seems, especially when it comes to the politics of opposing the "democracy reform" movement.

Kentucky, where McConnell is asking for a seventh term next year, seems none too happy with him at the moment. A survey out Monday from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found the most powerful Republican in Congress is underwater back home: 39 percent approve of his job performance and 51 percent do not. The same poll, by contrast, showed a 55 percent approval rating in the state for President Trump.


McConnell has vowed to prevent any Senate consideration of HR 1, the comprehensive political process overhaul that Democrats labeled their top legislative priority after reclaiming control of the House and pushing it through that chamber this winter. More regulation of money in politics is at the heart of the bill, something McConnell once mocked as ranking up there with "static cling" in the minds of voters.

But the poll (commissioned by the campaign finance advocacy group End Citizens United) found 23 percent of Kentuckians choosing "ending political corruption" as the most important issue facing the country. Only lowering the cost of health care and drugs finished higher, at 25 percent. And 71 percent of those polled said they supported the concepts embodied in HR 1.


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Primary Elections Skew Representation: Inside the 2026 Primary Problem
us a flag on mans shoulder
Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash

Primary Elections Skew Representation: Inside the 2026 Primary Problem

Earlier this year, the Bridge Alliance and the National Academy of Public Administration launched the Fellows for Democracy and Public Service Initiative to strengthen the country's civic foundations. This fellowship unites the Academy’s distinguished experts with the Bridge Alliance’s cross‑sector ecosystem to elevate distributed leadership throughout the democracy reform landscape. Instead of relying on traditional, top‑down models, the program builds leadership ecosystems—spaces where people share expertise, prioritize collaboration, and use public‑facing storytelling to renew trust in democratic institutions. Each fellow grounds their work in one of six core sectors essential to a thriving democratic republic.

Below is an interview with Beth Hladick. Beth is the Policy Director at Unite America, where she oversees original research and commissions studies that diagnose the problems with party primaries and evaluate the effectiveness of reform solutions. In addition to her research portfolio, Beth leads outreach efforts to educate stakeholders on elections and reform. She brings a nonpartisan perspective shaped by her experience at the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Oregon State Legislature, and the U.S. Senate.

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(Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Whenever political violence erupts, Washington starts playing the blame game

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It didn’t take long for Washington to start arguing. Democrats denounce violent rhetoric from the right, but the alleged assailant seemed to be inspired by his own rhetoric. President Trump, after initially offering some unifying remarks about defending free speech, soon started accusing the press of encouraging violence against him. Critics pounced on the hypocrisy.

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America’s Greatest Geopolitical Blind Spot

The global hierarchy of innovation is undergoing a structural shift that Washington is dangerously slow to acknowledge. For decades, the prevailing narrative in the United States was that China was merely the "world’s factory"—a nation capable of mass-producing Western designs but inherently lacking the creative spark to invent its own. This assumption has been shattered. Today, Beijing is no longer playing catch-up; in sectors ranging from electric vehicles and next-generation nuclear power to hypersonic missiles, China is setting the pace.

The central challenge is that China has mastered the entire innovation ecosystem, while the United States has allowed its own to fracture. Innovation is not just about a "eureka" moment in a laboratory; it is a relay race that begins with basic scientific research, moves through the training of specialized talent, and ends with the large-scale commercialization of "hard tech." China is currently winning every leg of that race.

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