Joe Trippi

We all know what's wrong with politics today: The money, the shouting, the prioritization of ideology over solutions and progress. It's easy to be cynical and think there's no other way for politics to be done.

But Jefferson Smith has shown Portland that there is another...

How do we give our kids a better education than we've been giving them? It's a question that is leading to a rare bipartisan conversation these days with some big figures in the Democratic party, like Cory Booker in Newark, Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles and Andrew Cuomo in New...

It's no surprise President Obama spent so much time Tuesday night calling for a new era of cooperation in Congress. From the debt ceiling to economic policy to consumer protection, neither side would come together nor cede a win. It's political division at its worst, and that's just party politics....

It's a story we've heard before -- an African country makes huge strides before its leader decides his own tenure is more important than his country's future. He ignores or changes the constitution, while voters lose faith in their government and institutions. Progress halts. And this tale could end up...

Like many Americans who have watched the economic crisis in the Eurozone, I found myself wondering several times over 2011, "Why can't they get their act together and fix this? Don't they realize what's at stake?"

I also scratched my head in wonder several times at how the world's markets...

On Nov. 28th, the Democratic Republic of Congo held an historic election -- the outcome of which will have a major effect on the Sub-Saharan region of Africa, if not the entire continent. Alas, those dependent on taking their news cues from the DC chattering class may have missed this...

The revolution in Libya has overshadowed another scheduled event that promises an equally seismic effect on democracy in Africa - the Nov. 28 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which the world is largely ignoring, even as a variety of experts warn this forsaken country could become the next...

I went to school at San Jose State University in Silicon Valley in 1975. I was an engineering major who would try to grab time on red beam lasers to make holograms, or sneak more time on the IBM mainframe in the computer lab -- all while maintaining my insane...

Full Disclosure: I'm the media consultant and senior strategist for the Janice Hahn for Congress campaign.

Special elections usually attract a lot of attention. They're correctly seen as referendums on the direction of Congress; a chance between election cycles for people in one part of the country to send a...

Full Disclosure: I'm the media consultant and senior strategist for the Janice Hahn for Congress campaign.

It's no coincidence that the most insulting ad I've ever seen in politics was made in support of Craig Huey. I say that because we now know that Huey has made a...

I first met Kam Kawata in Maine in 1983. He was working for Senator Alan Cranston's campaign for President, and I was working for Walter Mondale. And we were both running around Maine in a ridiculous "straw vote" convention campaign - running up and down the state of Maine like...

Full Disclosure: As someone who has been active in both advising on and overseeing elections in Africa and Nigeria, I have worked for several pro-democracy candidates in Nigeria, including President Goodluck Jonathan.

International observers have been understandably wary about the elections in Nigeria. In a country where political intimidation and...

FULL DISCLOSURE: As someone who has been active in both advising on and overseeing elections in Africa and Nigeria, I have worked for several pro-democracy candidates in Nigeria, including President Goodluck Jonathan.

Last week, I wrote about why Nigeria will not need "A Tahrir Moment". Though the recent...

FULL DISCLOSURE: As someone who has been active in both advising on and overseeing elections in Africa and Nigeria, I have worked for several pro-democracy candidates in Nigeria, including President Goodluck Jonathan.

With revolution unfolding in Egypt, civil war erupting in Libya, and citizens fleeing Cote D'Ivoire, it would not...