Today’s FCC move against @Disney owned @ABC stations shows why this debate is bigger than one network or one controversy. Broadcast licensing should not become a tool for political pressure. @AdamThierer explains why Congress needs to rein in the FCC’s expanding power over speech, markets, and media.

Gerrymandering lets politicians choose their voters instead of voters choosing their representatives. 🗳️ In his latest for @RSI, @JonMadison26 explains how distorted districts corrupt the People’s House and weaken the basic link between elections and accountability.

My colleague @JonMadison26 has written another excellent piece! This time, he uses the latest escalation in the gerrymandering wars (my state of Virginia) to take a step back and look at this situation through a historical lens, and provide some legitimate solutions. As someone who worked in the House of Representatives, I strongly believe it *must* belong to the people again, as the Founders intended. The chamber’s increasing politicization and functional irrelevance has severe and negative downstream effects on our governance practices and, in turn, civic culture.

Primary elections are often decisive because so many general elections are not competitive. The piece notes estimates that around 90 percent of U.S. House seats and 80 percent of U.S. Senate races in the 2026 midterms are expected to lack a competitive general election. When that happens, the real decision gets pushed into a low-turnout primary electorate that is often older and less representative than the general public. 🔗 Read the full piece by @JonMadison26 here: bit.ly/4mo46B0

American candidate selection often combines the weaknesses of two very different systems. Parties are too weak to provide strong ideological coherence or meaningful gatekeeping, but primaries are still often too closed and too low-turnout to produce broadly representative nominees. The result is a system that is neither strongly party-driven nor fully democratic in practice. 🔗 Read the full piece by @JonMadison26 here: bit.ly/4sMy3Mz

For much of American history, political parties chose their own candidates through caucuses and conventions. That system could be elitist and exclusionary, but it also gave parties a clearer identity and a stronger role in shaping the candidates who represented their platform. Modern primaries weakened that structure without fully solving the representativeness problem. 🔗 Read the full piece by @JonMadison26 here: bit.ly/3QsZSvG

The shift to primaries made candidate selection more democratic than the old smoke-filled-room model, but it also helped produce weaker parties and platforms that mean less than they once did. Candidates now often owe their nomination more to a narrow slice of primary voters than to any coherent party organization with a durable brand or governing identity. 🔗 Read the full piece by @JonMadison26 here: bit.ly/4tv7RGR

SHOTS FIRED IN LEXINGTON COMMON! THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN! An unknown ſoldier of either Britiſh or rebel origin has fired his muſket toward the oppoſing line, and now fire is ringing out all over. It is war with England!!

This month, I am reintroducing my Penny Plan because someone has to be responsible with your money.

Political leadership matters most when democratic institutions are tested. In those moments, the conduct of leaders can strengthen public trust or weaken it. Hosted by @JonMadison26, this conversation brings together panelists to discuss the role of leadership in shaping constitutional government and the bond between the president and the people. 🎥 Watch the full conversation here: bit.ly/4cerY5h

Democracy requires institutions, but it also requires leaders capable of exercising judgment when the rules alone are not enough. The health of constitutional government often turns on how power is used in difficult moments. Hosted by @JonMadison26, this conversation examines leadership, trust, and the presidency in the American tradition. 🎥 Watch the full conversation here: bit.ly/4tvaRmI

Rules matter, but democratic institutions also depend on the character and judgment of those who lead them. In moments of uncertainty or strain, leadership helps determine whether trust is reinforced or weakened. Hosted by @JonMadison26, this conversation reflects on leadership, public confidence, and the evolving relationship between the president and the people. 🎥 Watch the full conversation here: bit.ly/3PZqNiD

This debate gets at some of the oldest questions in American politics: how to balance popular participation with institutional restraint, how to produce candidates who can govern, and how a republic translates public opinion into responsible leadership. 🇺🇸 @JonMadison26 also touches on these themes in an @RSI America 250 video as well. Worth a watch: youtube.com/watch?v=838g7s3G…

American candidate selection is stuck in the worst of both worlds. 🗳️ Parties are weaker, primaries are often unrepresentative, and too many elections are effectively decided before most voters weigh in. In his latest for @RSI, @JonMadison26 lays out why that matters and what a better system could look like. Read here: rstreet.org/commentary/ameri…

Political leadership is never just about rules on paper. It is about how people entrusted with authority exercise judgment, restraint, and responsibility in moments that test democratic institutions. Hosted by @JonMadison26, this conversation brings together panelists to reflect on how leadership has shaped public trust, constitutional government, and the relationship between the president and the people across American history. 🎥 Watch the full conversation here: bit.ly/4mfvHUK

The durability of democratic institutions depends not only on their design, but on the quality of the people who lead them. Judgment, restraint, and responsibility are never secondary in public life. Hosted by @JonMadison26 this conversation explores how political leadership has shaped trust and constitutional government in the United States. 🎥 Watch the full conversation here: bit.ly/4sqVDOT