Following a long day of remote learning, two high school students — 17-year old Elena Ashburn of Broward and 16-year-old Dariel Cruz Rodriguez of Orlando — shared their experiences as founders of Students for Open Primaries. The group is campaigning for adoption of a ballot measure that could remake politics in the most populous purple state — by opening Florida's legislative and other state primaries to all voters, regardless of party, and advancing the top two vote-getters, also regardless of party, to the general election. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Fahey: How did you become involved in the open primary movement?
Ashburn: We both learned about Open Primaries, the group at the forefront of the campaign, through Civics Unplugged, which empowers Gen Z leaders with the tools needed to advance democracy.
Cruz Rodriguez: We're a small group of volunteers. We've been calling and texting newly registered voters under 22. Other organizations have solicited these people to register and we're following up by saying, "Did you know independents can't vote?"
Ashburn: We're students and we want to get the word out to other students because Gen Zers and millennials are becoming increasingly less dependent on parties. A recent poll showed 44 percent of millennials nationwide are not registered Democrats or Republicans. So a huge voting bloc is being shut out of primaries in closed states like ours.
Fahey: Do you identify as independents?
Cruz Rodriguez: Yes, we've both pre-registered as NPAs, or No Party Affiliates, meaning we'll automatically be placed into the rolls when we turn 18.
Ashburn: We were like, "We've been fighting for the last few weeks for open primaries, but we're not even registered." So we got on a Zoom call and preregistered together.
Fahey: Why are you passionate about open primaries?
Ashburn: I was drawn to this idea because I'm not in love with either of the two major parties. I'd rather hold onto my values and be without a party than compromise my values by registering with one.
Cruz Rodriguez: A lot of people from my school were telling me to register, but independents simply can't vote in primaries. It's more productive to change the system to let all voters vote than to get more people into one of the major parties.
Fahey: You need 60 percent of the vote to win. What's your strategy?
Cruz Rodriguez: Independents are already on board, so we're targeting mainly Democrats and Republicans. The two parties are sending out lots of misleading information and we're trying to combat that with correct information.
Ashburn: We're also trying to show the wide support we've got. We've been endorsed by almost every major newspaper in Florida, people like Magic Johnson and reform groups such as Independent Voting.
Fahey: Have you met each other in person? If not, what has it been like to work together virtually?
Ashburn: We are super close friends but we've never met in person. It's really weird. With the coronavirus our whole campaign has been online. It's not a major hindrance to do most of our work this way.
Cruz Rodriguez: We will be featured in "The Young Vote," a documentary on Gen Zers in electoral politics. We have this grand plan that, for the post-election results, we'll do an in-person interview together.
Fahey: What is the role of independents in today's political system?
Cruz Rodriguez: We are often a moderating force as the main parties become increasingly more radicalized. Finding common ground is the only way this country can move forward, and independents are the bridge.
Ashburn: And we will continue to play a crucial role as more and more young people identify as independent.
Fahey: What's the role of young people in our politics?
Ashburn: We're going to change the world! That's a nonnegotiable statement. From March for Our Lives to Black Lives Matter, this year the world has seen that Gen-Zers are going to better our democracy. We've all grown up in this very polarized, very partisan atmosphere, and honestly we're sick of it. We know we need to work together to use our power and speak up for what we believe in.
Cruz Rodriguez: Young people have been active in politics for a long time, but they're just now getting attention. Whether it be local, like how my school district finally changed our dress code, or national, such as March for Our Lives, issues that affect youth are finally in the spotlight, and so is our activism.
Fahey: Have you felt pushback or skepticism due to your age?
Ashburn: Oh yeah. I've been told by adults, "Your views will change when you get older," or "You don't really know what you're talking about, you can't even vote yet." I've done my research, I know what my values are and I align my political beliefs to match those values.
Cruz Rodriguez: People actually thought we were paid actors being used by political operatives. We received a lot of pushback campaigning on social media or on the phone with voters. Just because we're kids doesn't mean that we can't spark impactful change.
Fahey: What is the most fun you've had on this campaign?
Ashburn: Without this experience, I never would have gotten to know Dariel as well as I do. Now, we host the "Mission Control 2030 Podcast" and do so many other projects together. I can't imagine doing any of those things without him.
Cruz Rodriguez: And also, taking on all the outrageous online arguments from the opposition. I'm a person who challenges people's ideas, and this experience has really brought that out in me.
Fahey: Finally, what does being an American mean to you?
Cruz Rodriguez: It means being able to exercise the right to critique our government, from the founders who dumped tea into Boston Harbor to the young people protesting in the streets today.
Ashburn: Loving your country, and being willing to do whatever it takes to change it for the better.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.