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Podcast: Conversations: Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott

Podcast: Conversations: Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott

In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, it became clear that the Electoral Count Act of 1887, the legislation that provides the framework governing the casting and counting of electoral votes, needed updating because of its arcane language and ambiguities that could be exploited by bad actors willing to overturn the will of the people.

In stepped a bipartisan group of senators, and, after months of negotiating, a deal was struck. Last month, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act was introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) along with eight other Republican cosponsors and seven Democratic cosponsors, to update the antiquated Electoral Count Act of 1887.


On this special episode of Swamp Stories, host Weston Wamp spoke with former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) about the bipartisan group of senators that helped drive the effort, the implications for public confidence in our system, and why the bill needs to pass this year.

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People watch the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Li Rui/Xinhua via Getty Images

Is the devil you know better than the devil you don't when voting?

Schmidt is a columnist and editorial board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The 2024 election is shaping up to be a “Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know" kind of contest.

That saying is rooted in ambiguity aversion bias. Even if a situation is bad, individuals would rather stay with what they know rather than face uncertainty.

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President-elect Jimmy Carter and President Gerald Ford in the White House.

Historical/Getty Images

Carter, Ford: Nonviolent campaigns are the only safeguard for democracy

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Carter is the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and Ford is the son of former President Gerald Ford, a Republican. They serve as co-chairs of the Principles for Trusted Elections, a cross-partisan program of The Carter Center, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and Team Democracy.

The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13 is a stark reminder that the specter of political violence casts a long shadow over our democratic ideals. This outrageous act underscores the sad reality that those engaged in our democratic process — whether as candidates, public officials or citizens — can find themselves in situations where their safety is compromised simply by participating.

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Issue One

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Bill Gates

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Bill Gates, a registered Republican, was re-elected to the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Board of Supervisors in 2020 after first being elected in 2016. Before joining the board, he served on the Phoenix City Council for seven years, from 2009 to 2016, including a term as vice mayor in 2013.

Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, is the fourth-largest county in the United States, and it has the second-largest voting jurisdiction in the country, with about 2.5 million active, registered voters and about 4.5 million residents. Gates represents roughly 900,000 residents as a supervisor for the 3rd district.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Patty Murray look at their Project 2025 poster during a press conference on Sept. 12.

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

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Corbin is professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.

It’s becoming crystal clear, as we near the Nov. 5 presidential election, that voters need to seriously check out the radical government reformation policies contained within the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. Here’s why.

The right-wing think tank has written not one, not two, but nine “Mandate for Leadership” documents for Republican presidential candidates, with its first playbook published in 1981. The Heritage Foundation spent $22 million —serious money — in 2023 to create Project 2025 for Donald Trump to implement.

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