ISSUE ONE - Key Persons
Amy Lockard has a Master's Degree in English Literature from the University of Northern Iowa (1994)
and has continued classes at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She has published several short stories, and poetry. She regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals, combining her background in literature with commentary on modern politics and social issues. Currently she is working on the second of a four book fictional series based on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."
Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."
Breslin is the Joseph C. Palamountain Jr. Chair of Political Science at Skidmore College and author of "A Constitution for the Living: Imagining How Five Generations of Americans Would Rewrite the Nation's Fundamental Law."
This is the latest in a series to assist American citizens on the bumpy road ahead this election year. By highlighting components, principles and stories of the Constitution, Breslin hopes to remind us that the American political experiment remains, in the words of Alexander Hamilton, the "most interesting in the world."
Calls of "Traitor" and "Turncoat" rang down from the Senate gallery. Henry Tazewell was horrified. A Revolutionary War hero with an impeccable political record, Tazewell was now being accused of treason. And for what? For an eavesdrop, a snoop, a moment of pure hearsay. The problem for this U.S. senator? He lived in a political environment in which "name-calling, partisan bickering, and provocation" ruled the day.
According to official reports, Tazewell, a Democratic-Republican from Virginia, was overheard declaring "that if the French nation should land an army in these states, he would join the said army against the government of the United States." The senator was deeply frustrated with the current administration. Angry even. He maintained that it was the illiberal actions of President John Adams in executing the Alien and Sedition Acts that prompted his offhand and ill-advised comment. But there was more to the story, and there were more bad actors than just John Adams, Henry Tazewell and Tazewell's snitch.
Job Titles:
- Columnist
- President and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation
Bradford Fitch is president and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation. Fitch has spent 25 years in Washington as a journalist, congressional aide, consultant, college instructor, Internet entrepreneur, and writer/researcher. Fitch began his career as a radio and television reporter in the 1980s. He began working on Capitol Hill in 1988 where he served for 13 years. He worked in a variety of positions for four Members of Congress, including: press secretary, campaign manager, legislative director, and chief of staff.
Fitch is the president and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation and a former congressional staffer.
Charles Wheelan was in the ballpark of reaching this conclusion in his 2013 book, "The Centrist Manifesto," where he argued for a "fulcrum strategy" in which five to six moderate senators who were members of a Centrist Political Party would provide the majority party with the votes it needed to get to 60 votes and pass major policy bills. I take a pass on a third party. Yet I think that a group of independents - who will rely on structural election reforms like ranked-choice voting and open primaries to get elected - from diverse ideological standpoints could do the work. They will be motivated to work together in order to maintain their jobs as senators.
"What we've seen in Seattle and the state is that there is no quick fix to Citizens United," writes Cindy Black. "Instead, a holistic approach is needed."
Anderson edited "Leveraging: A Political, Economic and Societal Framework" (Springer, 2014), has taught at five universities and ran for the Democratic nomination for a Maryland congressional seat in 2016.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance
- Co - Publisher
David Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
David L. Nevins serves as co-publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, "No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all." He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
Job Titles:
- Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy
Levine is an elections integrity fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, which develops strategies to deter and defend against autocratic efforts to interfere in democratic institutions.
David Levine is the Elections Integrity Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, where he assesses vulnerabilities in electoral infrastructure, administration, and policies. David is also an advisory committee member for the Global Cyber Alliance's Cybersecurity Toolkit for Elections and an advisory council member for The Election Reformers Network, an organization dedicated to advancing nonpartisan reforms to address significant challenges in U.S. democracy. Previously, he worked as the Ada County, Idaho Elections Director, managing the administration of all federal, state, county, and local district elections. David's research interests and recent publications focus on election access, trust and security, and the nexus between external threats from malign actors and the challenges many democracies face in conducting free and fair elections. David's work has been published and quoted in USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, and others. He received his JD from the Case Western School of Law and has administered elections, worked with advocacy groups to improve the election process, and observed elections overseas in a number of countries for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Levine is the senior elections integrity fellow at the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy. Batista is a project assistant at The Carter Center.
Job Titles:
- Executive Editor
- President
David Meyers is the Executive Editor of The Fulcrum and President of DBM Content Solutions. Before launching The Fulcrum, David spent more than two decades at CQ Roll Call, a leading publisher of political news and information. During his time there, David served as managing editor of Roll Call ("the newspaper of Capitol Hill") and as managing editor of member information and research, which included co-editing the definitive biographical directory of Congress, "Politics in America." David went on to lead all of CQ Roll Call's congressional research teams as vice president of research and content development before shifting to a revenue and strategy role as vice president of business operations for Roll Call, working with the advertising and editorial teams to develop new revenue models and expand the company's events business. David lives in Fairfax, Va., with his wife, two daughters, and rottweiler. A graduate of Tufts University, David is a past president of the Tufts University Alumni Association. He is also a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation, which works to celebrate and advance the role of women and minorities in the media. David currently serves on the board of directors for Temple B'nai Shalom in Fairfax Station.
Job Titles:
- Director of Vital Signs of Democracy
David Riordan is the director of Vital Signs of Democracy (VSD). David has a long history of producing Hollywood movies, interactive entertainment and documentaries. The VSD team looks at stories in the news and determines if the events they are reporting on are threatening democracy in America. VSD uses a unique Artificial Intelligence narrative analysis process to rate news stories in 10 key categories and then aggregates those 10 individual scores into one master threat rating published every two weeks. David and the VSD team identify politically as independents. At the moment their confidence level that either party can rally the 65% of the American public who still believe in democracy to stand up is low. That is why David and his team collect and analyze the stories we are currently telling about democracy in America in an attempt to identify thenarrative themes that will counter the anti-democratic story that is growing in influence. David joins us twice a month to explore the news stories that are impacting democracy in America.
Job Titles:
- FairVote 's Director of Research and Policy
Rev. Dr. F. Willis Johnson, Jr., serves as vice president of partnerships and programming with the Bridge Alliance. A third-generation educator, Rev. Dr. F. Willis Johnson is a spiritual entrepreneur, Senior Minister of Living Tree Church and adjunct faculty at Methodist Theological School of Ohio. Johnson formerly served as senior minister of Wellspring Church in Ferguson, Missouri, a predominately African-American intergenerational urban parachute church plant. Rev. Dr. Johnson is respected for his leadership and strategies around social and racial justice issues. Recognized as a scholar-practitioner, Johnson authored Holding Up Your Corner: Talking About Race in Your Community, and is a sought after thought-leader who empowers individuals and communities towards prophetic response-healing, justice and reconciliation. With some 19 years of professional ministry experience in Indiana, North Carolina, and Missouri, Johnson's skills extend far beyond the pulpit. Trained in education and nonprofit management, he has served in volunteer and paid leadership positions for multiple nonprofit organizations. He counsels bishops, General Board agencies, annual conferences, and local churches across the country. Johnson in 2017 was the Vosburgh Visiting Professor of Ministry and Social Engagement at Drew University's Theological School.
Job Titles:
- Writer, Editor and Columnist
Eliza Newlin Carney is a longtime Washington writer, editor and columnist specializing in democracy issues. She is a columnist and former senior editor for The American Prospect, and previously held senior positions at CQ Roll Call and National Journal. She also is founder and president of The Civic Circle, which uses music and the arts to empower young students to understand and participate in democracy. Carney coined the term super PAC, and has offered commentary on C-SPAN, CNN and the PBS NewsHour, among other outlets. She has also taught journalism at George Washington's School of Media and Public Affairs, and has written a one-of-a-kind, music-based curriculum that teaches elementary school students seven "steps to democracy."
Job Titles:
- Research Analyst at the University of Maryland 's Program for Public Consultation
- Research Analyst at Voice
Lewitus is a research analyst at the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation.
Job Titles:
- President of the Jack Miller Center
Hans Zeiger is president of the Jack Miller Center, a nationwide network of scholars and teachers committed to advancing the core texts and ideas of the American political tradition headquartered in Philadelphia.
Job Titles:
- Columnist
- Founder and President of American Promise
Jeff Clements is a founder and president of American Promise, which is uniting Americans to combat systemic corruption and protect our voice, votes, communities and future with a For Our Freedom Amendment to the US Constitution. The amendment authorizes limits and regulation of the deployment of money to influence local, state and federal elections. Jeff has been as a partner at a large law firm based in Boston and in his own firm. He also has served as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Public Protection in the Attorney General's Office in Massachusetts. Among other major litigation, Clements filed briefs in the Supreme Court and other courts in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and other cases defending anti-corruption laws. He is the author of Corporations Are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy from Big Money & Global Corporations and his work has appeared in various media. Clements also is a founder of Whaleback Partners LLC, which provides sustainable financing to businesses in the local agriculture economy.
Clements is the president of American Promise, a nonprofit advocate for amending the Constitution to allow more federal and state regulation of money in politics.
Clements is president of American Promise and has practiced law in state and federal courts since 1988. He was a partner at Mintz Levin and in his own firm in Boston, before serving as Assistant Attorney General & Chief of the Public Protection Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.
President Joe Biden, along with many members of Congress from both the left and the right, have joined world leaders in blaming Putin, and the rotten political system he commands, for Navalny's untimely death. Yet many shamefully have not.
Job Titles:
- Founder of the Weston Network
Weston is the founder of the Weston Network, which provides trainings, consulting and coaching.
Job Titles:
- Editor - in - Chief of the Dispatch and the Host of the Remnant
Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.
Job Titles:
- Founder and Chief Network Weaver
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor at the Crump College of Law
Frazier is an assistant professor at the Crump College of Law at St. Thomas University. Starting this summer, he will serve as a Tarbell fellow.
Becvar is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and executive director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
Kristina Becvar serves as co-publisher of The Fulcrum. She also serves as Executive Director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund and project manager for the Citizen Connect initiative. In these roles, she is a driving force behind collaborative efforts to transform our democracy. Recognizing that no single idea or organization can address our complex challenges in isolation, Kristina excels in blending intuitive leadership with data-driven insights. Her extensive background in legal operations and change management, coupled with her recent M.S. in Data Analytics and Computation for Social Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, equips her with a powerful skill set. Kristina's expertise in research is rivaled only by her passion for nonviolence advocacy, amplified by her experiences as the spouse of a disabled combat veteran. Her practical knowledge of business and project management, combined with her connection to a vibrant community of changemakers, brings a focused approach to the essential work required for a thriving democratic republic.
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant for the Alliance for Securing Democracy
- Research Assistant With the German Marshall Fund 's Alliance for Securing Democracy
Krystyna (Krysia) Sikora is a program assistant for the Alliance for Securing Democracy, where she serves as the assistant to the director.
Sikora is a research assistant with the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy. Gorman is the alliance's senior fellow and head of the technology and geopolitics team; Levine is the senior elections integrity fellow.
Days before New Hampshire's presidential primary, up to 25,000 Granite State voters received a mysterious call from "President Joe Biden." He urged Democrats not to vote in the primary because it "only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump." But Biden never said this. The recording was a digital fabrication generated by artificial intelligence.
Lennon Wesley III is a Masters of Science in Social Entrepreneurship student at the University of Southern California. Originally from Las Vegas, NV, he studied at USC as an undergraduate, earning bachelor's degrees in Business Administration, as well as Philosophy, Politics, and Law. He is passionate about the value of social enterprise and political advocacy. In his personal time, he enjoys watching movies and reading poetry.
Job Titles:
- First Executive Director of the Gilder Lehman Institute of American History
Job Titles:
- Columnist and Editorial Board Member With the St. Louis Post - Dispatch
Lynn Schmidt is a syndicated columnist and editorial board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lynn is also a registered nurse and holds a BS in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is currently in graduate school studying political science.
Job Titles:
- CEO of BridgeUSA
- Columnist
Manu Meel is passionate about empowering young people to bring our country together. Currently, Manu serves as the CEO of BridgeUSA, a national organization that is investing in the future of democracy. Through his work, Manu has contributed to several news outlets, advanced pro-democracy efforts nationally, and led the policy operation for a Baltimore mayoral candidate. In the past, Manu worked as an associate at the venture capital firm Amplo and at the Department of State as a political analyst in counterterrorism. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media platforms.
Job Titles:
- Columnist
- President of the Hispanic Leadership Fund
Mario H. Lopez is the President of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, an advocacy organization that promotes liberty, opportunity, and prosperity for all in public policy. HLF advocates on Capitol Hill and state legislatures, before regulatory agencies, and in the courts, to further its core principles and work with policymakers to defend and strengthen the American Dream. HLF executes communication campaigns in English and Spanish to educate constituents about where candidates for public office and elected officials stand on critical issues. Since its inception in 2008, HLF has successfully completed millions of constituent contacts across all mediums. HLF is the first free-market non-partisan national advocacy organization governed exclusively by Latino political and public policy professionals. In 2017 Lopez was appointed by Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai to the FCC's Advisory Committee on Digital Diversity and Empowerment. Lopez served on the U.S. Senate Republican Task Force of Hispanic Affairs as appointed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT). Previously, Lopez was tapped to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives as Executive Director of the Congressional Hispanic Conference-a Republican caucus that promoted legislation and policy. He implemented communication and legislative strategies, focused heavily on coalition building, messaging, and issue management-including health care, tax reform, energy and education. He served as liaison to the White House, the executive branch, private sector, and public policy communities. Lopez previously served on the Hispanic Advisory Board for the Republican National Committee and was a presidential appointee for George W. Bush. In his first Capitol Hill post, he served as Deputy Director of Coalitions and Outreach for House Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts.
Mario H. Lopez is president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, a public policy advocacy organization that promotes liberty, opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.
Michael V. Murphy is Director of FixUS, which engages a nationwide network of Americans and societal leaders to better understand and address the root causes of our nation's growing divisions and deteriorating political system. He is also Chief of Staff for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, where he leads the organization in advancing its mission of educating the public and policymakers on issues with a significant fiscal policy impact.
Murphy is the director of FixUS, the democracy reform advocacy arm of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal policy think tank of which he is also chief of staff. Tomchik is vice president nd deputy chief of staff at FixUS and CRFB
Michael Whatley, the former head of the North Carolina GOP, is the new national chairman, having earned Trump's favor as an unrestrained booster of his claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Lara Trump, the former president's daughter-in-law, is serving alongside Whatley as co-chair. And Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign adviser, will run day-to-day operations. On Monday, they began a wholesale purge of staffers deemed insufficiently loyal.
Trump's son Donald Jr. agrees that it's official. In an interview with Newsmax Sunday, he said the old GOP establishment "no longer exists. … People have to understand that America first, the MAGA movement, is the new Republican Party. That is conservatism today."
Job Titles:
- Civic Engagement & Education
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Social Work at Rutgers University
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was able advance to the general election because she ran in a top-four primary.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Lviv Municipal Arts Center
Singer Lyana Mytsko is the director of the Lviv Municipal Arts Center; when the war began Mytsko made the center into a shelter for war evacuees in addition as a place to create art. Mytsko views art as a vital way to defend the country.
Job Titles:
- Founding Director of Walker Institute at Eden Theological Seminary
Job Titles:
- Program Director of the Program for Public Consultation
Kull is program director of the Program for Public Consultation. Lewitus is a research analyst at Voice of the People. Thomas is vice president of Voice of the People and director of Voice of the People Action.