A powerful faction of the Christian Right believes wars in the Middle East are not tragedies to avoid.
They’re signs that Armageddon is approaching.
Their theology shapes how they view foreign policy.
New piece: The Regressive Evangelism of America Part 5: www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...
Being anti-Trump is not a political ideology and it shouldn’t be a fast pass to Dem leadership.
This week on By the Ballot, I break down how GOP converts keep getting elevated while longtime organizers get ignored.
Novelty ≠ loyalty.
Opposition ≠ values.
www.bytheballot.com/p/democratic...
Age verification is being framed as “protecting kids.”
But it also means:
→ Platforms collecting government IDs
→ Bigger breach risks
→ Easier attribution of online speech
When anonymity disappears, behavior changes.
www.bytheballot.com/p/united-sur...
Gambling is no longer just in casinos.
It’s in sports.
It’s in politics.
It’s in your neighborhood convenience store.
From prediction markets to illegal skill machines, an entire economy is being built on extracting money from people who can least afford it.
www.bytheballot.com/p/rigged-the...
Virginia Democrats finally dropped the 10–1 congressional map.
Politically smart? Maybe.
Electorally risky? Absolutely.
We break down the infighting, the optics problem, and why districts drawn for people are a bad precedent. 👇
www.bytheballot.com/p/on-redistr...
So in keeping with the same trend of Youth Engagement within Progressive and Democratic politics, we have made yet another Gen Z oriented organization that needs funding to work parallel to all of the other orgs that already exist and pull from the same funders?
Be serious.
Virginia is the world’s data center capital — and your electric bill is paying for it.
AI facilities are draining billions of gallons of water, driving up power costs, and getting billions in tax breaks while families foot the bill.⚡💧https://www.bytheballot.com/p/what-the-hell-is-a-gigawatt
Clearly the lesson of only being anti-Trump as a qualification for Congress has not been learned.
From his website, Conway’s only hard stance seems to be against Trump with loose references to trending buzzwords like “affordability,” not a singular policy issue.
From the perspective of 2026, we can all agree that January 6, 2021 was successful in its payoff. They may not have been able to overturn the 2020 election, but they instilled resentment in a large part of the country over the following four years, undermining the government.
The Prosperity Gospel didn’t just warp Christianity — it rewired American politics.
From televangelists to MLMs to Project 2025, this is how faith became a sales pitch for greed and power. www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...?
Skill games. Casinos. Digital betting.
Virginia’s gambling industry is expanding faster than our laws can keep up.
On this week’s By the Ballot, I break down what’s happening, who’s pushing it, and why vulnerable communities are paying the price.
🚨 NEW: Guest Takeover on By the Ballot 🚨
Andrew Payton—Democratic nominee for HD-34—breaks down how his campaign came within 257 votes of flipping a Trump +7 district that hasn’t sent a Democrat to Richmond since 1985.
Read his powerful reflection 👇
🔗
A Virginia candidate just “debated” an AI version of his opponent.
Deepfakes are already shaping campaigns, fooling voters, and eroding trust — and we have zero guardrails.
I wrote about how AI is breaking our politics in real time, and why states must act.
www.bytheballot.com/p/a-fake-deb...
We’re fighting for eyeballs in a world of short attention spans.
But persuasion now happens in earbuds, not on TV screens.
Why digital audio is the most overlooked weapon in modern campaigning → www.bytheballot.com/p/your-ears-...
JD Vance is the glossy PR version of a Silicon Valley–built Christian Nationalist ideology and that’s exactly why it’s dangerous.
Check out our conversation feat Chuck Corra from Appodlachia: www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...
Chuck Corra from Appodlachia joined us to talk about a distrubing new movement in Appalachia: Silicon Valley bros are building crypto-based Christian Nationalist towns in Tennessee… with their own “charters” and zero oversight.
This is the new far-right project. www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...
Just wrote a guest article for Dogwood News on why Dems swept Virginia in 2025 and why governing boldly on affordability is the next step.
Dems stayed focused on economic issues and affordability. Voters backed that vision.
Now it’s time to deliver. Full piece here ⬇️ vadogwood.com/2025/11/18/c...
We’re trying something new this week: teaming up with Dogwood News.
Michael O'Connor breaks down how unions helped Virginia’s 2025 blue wave — and what Dems might actually deliver now that they control Richmond
Virginia’s labor future is on the line. Read: www.bytheballot.com/p/workers-tu...
The next Democratic majority won’t come from consultants in D.C.—it’ll come from dirt roads and town halls in Rural America.
New By the Ballot episode: Rural Megaphones.
🎙️ Listen now on By the Ballot: www.bytheballot.com/p/rural-mega...
Just bumping this for no particular reason
www.bytheballot.com/p/if-liberal...
The man did not lie.
#VAElection #VAHouse #DonScott #Democrats #BlueWave
The enthusiasm gap is....palpable.
Matt Royer’s take on Deciding to Win—what it gets right and how it’s way off base—is an important read. @bytheballot.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...
Another centrist report telling Democrats to “run to the middle”? Hard pass.
If we want to win, we need to fight like we mean it — for working people, for bold change, and for our values.
New on By the Ballot: A Welcomed(?) Response →
Evangelical figures like Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell blurred the lines between faith and Republican politics, convincing followers that to be a “good Christian” is to be a conservative.
More on this 👇
Once again, the WaPo Editorial Board missing the point. The crux of this has nothing to do with NIMBYISM or the WH changing itself (this has happened many times). It has to do with the fact that this is in the middle of the Gov't shutdown without approval.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
🚨 New piece: The Regressive Evangelism of America, Part 2
How White Christian Nationalists warped history, married Church & State, and weaponized American exceptionalism — from Eisenhower & Billy Graham to Reagan, Falwell, and today’s GOP.
👉 www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...
Democrats keep asking how to win rural voters. The answer: show up.
New Rural Virginia joins By the Ballot to talk rural campaigns, real issues, and why young rural Dems are building power across Virginia.
🎧 Listen now: www.bytheballot.com/p/rural-rami...
The rural vote isn’t red by default.
In this episode, I talk with Larry Wohlers & Parson Brown from New Rural Virginia about how rural candidates can win by focusing on what really matters: jobs, cost of living, & community.
🎙️ Listen now: www.bytheballot.com/p/rural-rami...
