Elections

Former Secretary of State John Kerry says that partisan politics are harming America — and they have been for a while. In fact, when he ran for president in 2004, Kerry, then a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, contemplated naming Republican Sen. John McCain as his running mate.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lawrence Wright predicts that the largest "red" state in the union will eventually move into the "blue" column — and change the nation's politics in the process.

New York Times reporter Scott Shane discusses special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russians who allegedly participated in a complex social media operation to undermine the 2016 election.

Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot, says the new commission will keep alive the idea that voter fraud is rampant — despite the fact that "all the studies show the opposite."

Jane Mayer writes in the New Yorker about Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah, who have poured millions of dollars into Breitbart News, and who pushed to have Bannon run Trump's campaign.

Rick Hasen, founder of the Election Law Blog, discusses Donald Trump's claims of potential voter fraud. "He's threatening the bedrock of democracy, and doing it to claim he's not a loser," Hasen says.

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer discusses conservative activist James O'Keefe's latest botched sting operation, and the new kind of political opposition research O'Keefe pioneered.

Silver analyzes polls and predicts election outcomes on his website, FiveThirtyEight. This year's is "maybe the most fascinating nomination race that we've ever seen," he says.

Mixing judges with campaign contributions can lead to conflicts of interest. Fresh Air talks to retired Judge Sue Bell Cobb and the Center for American Progress' Billy Corriher.

On March 7, 1965, marchers from Selma, Ala., attempted to cross a bridge to demonstrate in support of voting rights. Selma director Ava DuVernay, John Lewis and J.L. Chestnut reflect on that day.

The film about Martin Luther King's marches for voting rights is being accused of alleged historical inaccuracies. Critic David Edelstein says that's "not entirely" fair, and it's still a great movie.

Campaign Expert Neil Oxman Talks About How He Makes Political Ads

Rick Perlstein's new book describes how Reagan emerged as the leader of a potent political movement during the turbulent mid-'70s. He says the soul of Reagan's appeal was how he made people feel good.

The Supreme Court term ended Monday. The New York Times correspondent and lawyer Adam Liptak talks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about what the decisions reveal about the nine justices.

In this week's New Yorker, the journalist details how the electoral climate since the Citizens United ruling in 2010 has negatively affected the Obama campaign's appeal to Democratic donors. Mayer tells Fresh Air that Obama has to make a "terrible choice between his principles and politics."

The health care case wasn't the only important decision rendered by the court during its recent term. New York Times reporter Adam Liptak rounds up the session's most important cases -- including ones addressing immigration, campaign finance and Guantanamo detainees.

Journalist Joe Hagan says the upcoming election will be "the ugliest campaign ever." He details how superPACs have changed the election game, bringing an unprecedented flood of outside money to fund opposition research and negative ads.

Businessman Art Pope poured millions of dollars into state legislative campaigns during the 2010 campaign. Republicans went on to win 18 of the 22 campaign seats Pope and his organizations targeted. New Yorker writer Jane Mayer talks about Pope's growing power — and how his money may influence the 2012 presidential election.

New York Times reporter Adam Liptak wrote recently that the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has become the most conservative court in living memory. Liptak discusses several recent decisions that have been unusually long -- but also vague and opaque.

As campaign finance experts tell Fresh Air's Terry Gross, the Supreme Court's lifting of restrictions has led many interest groups to dramatically increase the number of ads they're airing.