UNDERNEWS

January 17, 2025

JUST WONDERING

Sam Smith - The last time a sizable number of Trump supporters entered the US Capitol together was earlier this month and resulted in 5 deaths, 174 police officers injured and $2.7 million in damages. Just wondering what will happen on Inauguration Day.

VOTING

Fair Vote- Ranked choice voting (RCV) is back in the public eye this month – as it will be used for the 2025 Oscar nominations on January 23, and again to select the Best Picture winner on March 10. The 2025 Oscar nominations – which have been delayed several days because of the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles – are a reminder that RCV is used in many places and contexts beyond public elections. RCV is recommended in Robert’s Rules of Order, and is commonly used in elections for well-known associations. (To learn more about how RCV is used to pick the Best Picture winner, check out FairVote’s explainer from last Oscar season.)

DEMOCRATS

AP News - Texas and Florida are growing rapidly. California, Illinois and New York are shrinking. With America’s population shifting to the South, political influence is seeping from reliably Democratic states to areas controlled by Republicans. Coming out of a presidential election where they lost all seven swing states, Democrats are facing a demographic challenge that could reduce their path to winning the U.S. House of Representatives or the White House for the long term.

If current trends hold through the 2030 census, states that voted for Vice President Kamala Harris will lose around a dozen House seats — and Electoral College votes — to states that voted for President-elect Donald Trump. The Democratic path to 270 Electoral College votes, the minimum needed to win the presidency, will get much narrower.

“At the end of the day, Democrats have to be able to win in the South or compete in the South” if they want to control the levers of government, said Michael Li, senior counsel for the Democracy Program at New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice. “Otherwise, it’s a really uphill battle every time.”

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

ABOUT THE EDITOR

The Review is edited by Sam Smith, who covered Washington under nine presidents, has edited the Progressive Review and its predecessors since 1964, wrote four books, been published in five anthologies, helped to start five organizations (including the DC Humanities Council and the DC Statehood Party), was a plaintiff in three successful class action suits, served as a Coast Guard officer, and played in jazz bands for four decades.

A truly independent journalist with his feet firmly grounded in the reality of neighborhoods and everyday people. -- Patrick Mazza, Progressive Populist

A truly original voice in American journalism: humorous and plain spoken and filled with common sense -- Jay Walljasper, Utne Reader

Inimitable -- Mother Jones Magazine

Sam's a cynical cat -- Marion Barry

Sam's one of the few independent voices left. The press today is either extreme or special interest or else just establishment, an extension of the corporate spirit -- Sen. Eugene McCarthy,

One of a small group of whites with whom many blacks would trust their political lives - Chuck Stone, Washingtonian.

A reputation for wit, intelligence and anger. -- Claude Lewis, Chicago Tribune

Smith is an island of reason and information in a sea of narcissistic blather. -- City Paper, Washington

Whatever the debate, the Review's sharp critiques encourage us to look out our window, notice and act upon what we see, and also to look further -- to the rest of the country and globe -- to see how the organized big world interacts with our more spontaneous small worlds. - Utne Reader