Newsletter - December 2025
- alcohn58
- Dec 29, 2025
- 2 min read
Another year is coming to a close. I am looking forward to continuing my work in 2026, with a primary focus on two of my principles:
Partnership with the public - Politicians frequentely produce legislative proposals that provide good messaging for their next campaign, but have little public support and minimal prospects for passage. Politicans face huge pressure to "toe the party line" or they find themselves at risk of being primaried or even face personal threats if they deviate from "party principles" by supporting positions supported by a majority of their constituents. Public consultation and paricipative democracy can serve as effective counter-balances to these negative forces. I plan to continue my work with Braver Angels and Voice of the People to develop tools and techniques that provide constituents with a greater role in influencing federal legislation.
Free and fair elections for all - As I mentioned in last month's newsletter, "the gerrymandering "race-to-the bottom" by both parties is repugnant and does not serve the interests of our country." I also mentioned that I did some preliminary investigation using ChatGPT to create an Ohio congressional map. I was pleased to hear about the work of a University of Alabama freshman to leverage Dave's Redistricting App to create a state senate map that was approved by a state judge. In addition to continuing to work with ChatGPT, I will look at Dave's Redistricting App and other tools to evaluate the feasibility of producing fair and representative congressional maps that remove political and racial bias from the process.
This month's social media posts:
The latest version of the Allsides Media Bias Chart, which provides a great reference on where news outlets fall on the political spectrum
A post by Becky Hillier appealing to our humanity and decrying hateful posts
A great example of courageous citizenship by Spencer Cox of Utah (R) and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (D)
Wishing you and your family a safe and joyous holiday season.
Please share this newsletter with others, and like us on Facebook and follow me on LinkedIn and X!Â