Paul Rieckhoff is on the courthouse steps in Foley Square, filing suit against the state of New York. The question in front of the court is as old as the republic and as urgent as this news cycle: does the right to vote derive from citizenship, or from joining a political party? In New York, 25.4% of the electorate — 3.1 million voters — is shut out of the primaries that actually decide most elections. Public schools. Public workers. Public machines. Private party gatekeeping. It is unfair, un-American, and the plaintiffs argue, unconstitutional.
Episode 637
Let vets vote
Paul Rieckhoff is standing on the courthouse steps in Lower Manhattan — and he’s suing the state of New York. 3.1 million unaffiliated New Yorkers are locked out of the primaries that actually decide their elections, and a coalition of independent veterans, led by Independent Veterans of America, just filed a landmark lawsuit to blow the doors off. This is Let Vets Vote — and it starts now.
The Brief
→ Four things from today’s episode
01
The ninety-three county tour. fourteen stops left and over two hundred public events in the books
02
Why less than 2% of Congress comes from the working class. and how Osborn is trying to break that cycle
03
The Matthew McConaughey moment and what it means for indepen. The Matthew McConaughey moment and what it means for independents who have never had star power on their side
04
“Ricketts is weak. I’m strong.”. the contrast Democrats won’t draw and independents will
