As we have said before, empathy plays a critical role in politics.  Nelson Mandela understood that.  Mandela knew that politics is not mainly a cerebral sport. As Bill Keller explained in his Mandela write up, “[Politics] is a business of charm and flattery and symbolic gestures and eager listening and little favors.  It is above…

How Arizona and the Federal Government Could Keep the Grand Canyon Open online essay writer Humans have been in the Grand Canyon for at least 4,000 years.  Mother Nature can’t keep us out, but now our Federal Government has. In 1995, many of the current folks here at HighGround were then working for Governor Fife…

We are just a little over a year away from the next General Election with every statewide office up for grabs.  We have entered political equivalent of the Oscar nomination season where people are busy asking about who’s in and who’s out, who’s hot and who’s not.  Is the primary going to be brutal?  Will…

By: Paul Bentz I read the “7 things consultants hate about you” by Jake Williams from Campaigns and Elections and found myself nodding along with most of the things he said.  His complaints are common in candidate races and there is no doubt that they can be frustrating at times.  In fact, we attempt to…

Thirteen years ago, blackouts, and soaring electricity rates defined the political landscape of California.  Drought, delays in approval of new power plants, and market manipulation decreased supply. Wholesale prices skyrocketed by 800% in little over half a year in no small part due to the efforts of electricity profiteers at places like Enron. California’s disaster…