Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — Cities that tolerated sustained disorder saw businesses and residents leave, and the businesses that left were frequently the ones that had the least ability to absorb it. The President's position has been consistent: back the police, prosecute rioters, and use federal resources when a city won't maintain order. Biden's campaign … Continue reading Law and order became a central issue after the unrest of 2020. What concrete differences exist between the candidates on policing, prosecution of rioters, and federal support for cities, and which approach is more likely to restore order without overreach?
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Character, age, and fitness for office have been raised against both candidates. Should these considerations carry more, less, or the same weight as policy differences in this election?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Character and fitness matter because the office concentrates power and demands judgment under pressure that nobody can rehearse. Both candidates have vulnerabilities and I'd resist the framing that one set is serious and the other is noise. Trump's are extensively documented and frequently self-inflicted. Biden is seventy-seven and the questions … Continue reading Character, age, and fitness for office have been raised against both candidates. Should these considerations carry more, less, or the same weight as policy differences in this election?
Record numbers of mail-in and absentee ballots have raised both access and integrity concerns. Do the current voting procedures strengthen or weaken public confidence in the outcome, and is major reform of election administration now required regardless of who wins?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Expanded mail voting increased convenience and increased the opportunities for dispute, because the rules changed late and verification standards vary enormously between states and sometimes between counties. Public confidence has clearly suffered, and I'd note it has suffered on both sides in different registers. The emphasis on verification, chain of … Continue reading Record numbers of mail-in and absentee ballots have raised both access and integrity concerns. Do the current voting procedures strengthen or weaken public confidence in the outcome, and is major reform of election administration now required regardless of who wins?
The 2020 campaign has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with sharp disagreements over lockdowns, school closures, masks, and vaccine timelines. How should voters weigh the candidates’ records and proposals on managing the pandemic against the broader economic and educational costs of the response?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — Voters have to hold the health effects and the economic and educational damage at the same time, and most of the coverage has asked them to hold one. Prolonged closures produced learning loss and business destruction that fell hardest on people with the least margin. I've had clients close who were … Continue reading The 2020 campaign has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with sharp disagreements over lockdowns, school closures, masks, and vaccine timelines. How should voters weigh the candidates’ records and proposals on managing the pandemic against the broader economic and educational costs of the response?
Thinking Outside the Boxe Endorses Donald J. Trump for Re-Election
NOTE TO OUR READERS: In a presidential election year, we put the same questions about the candidates to every correspondent. Each answers individually, in their own voice, and those answers are published as given. The correspondents then reach a collective decision by consensus, and that decision is Thinking Outside the Boxe's endorsement. The endorsement belongs … Continue reading Thinking Outside the Boxe Endorses Donald J. Trump for Re-Election
Is the renewed push for D.C. statehood a representation argument that should be settled on the merits, or a mid-cycle attempt to add Senate seats by statute?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Taxation without a House vote is an argument I can hear. Two senators from a federal city, created by statute, in a presidential year, is a different argument wearing the first one's coat. The merits version would look like a constitutional process — an amendment that retires the Twenty-third, a … Continue reading Is the renewed push for D.C. statehood a representation argument that should be settled on the merits, or a mid-cycle attempt to add Senate seats by statute?
After weeks of unrest and federal deployments to protect courthouses and monuments, should the use of federal officers in cities that refuse to hold a riot line be normalized, or reserved as an exceptional remedy?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — A courthouse is not a suggestion and a monument is not a comment box. When a city won't hold a line around either, somebody else does or the line is a rumor. Normalize is the wrong word if it means federal patrols standing in as municipal police. Exceptional is the … Continue reading After weeks of unrest and federal deployments to protect courthouses and monuments, should the use of federal officers in cities that refuse to hold a riot line be normalized, or reserved as an exceptional remedy?
Should the impeachment process be reserved for clear criminal conduct, or is it a legitimate political tool for checking executive power?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent — The constitutional text and the early history treat impeachment as a political remedy for serious abuses of power rather than as a criminal trial. Restricting it to indictable crimes would narrow a check designed to be broader. Using it as a routine instrument for policy disagreement drains its legitimacy and … Continue reading Should the impeachment process be reserved for clear criminal conduct, or is it a legitimate political tool for checking executive power?
Can the protests in Sudan and Algeria produce durable democratic transitions, or are they more likely to result in elite bargains that preserve existing power structures?
Sheffield, Jamaica Correspondent The question offers two outcomes, a durable democratic transition or an elite bargain that preserves existing power, and I want to begin by saying that in my experience of how small states change governments the two are not alternatives. Every durable transition I know of was an elite bargain, and most elite … Continue reading Can the protests in Sudan and Algeria produce durable democratic transitions, or are they more likely to result in elite bargains that preserve existing power structures?
With the Green New Deal, the Amazon fires, and youth climate strikes, has 2019 changed the politics of climate policy in the U.S., or only the volume?
Bismarck, North Dakota Correspondent I work in energy compliance in a state that produces more oil than any but Texas, mines lignite that fires the power plants that keep the upper Midwest warm, and ships both by rail through towns where the only other employer is the school, and I want to answer this question … Continue reading With the Green New Deal, the Amazon fires, and youth climate strikes, has 2019 changed the politics of climate policy in the U.S., or only the volume?
