{"id":5786,"date":"2025-11-04T23:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T23:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/366-john-opdycke-our-broken-election-day-the-parties-rigged-the-game-and-screw-independents-nyc-is-proof-cas-terrible-prop-50-and-a-new-fight-in-maryland-we-decide-election\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T23:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T23:10:00","slug":"366-john-opdycke-our-broken-election-day-the-parties-rigged-the-game-and-screw-independents-nyc-is-proof-cas-terrible-prop-50-and-a-new-fight-in-maryland-we-decide-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/366-john-opdycke-our-broken-election-day-the-parties-rigged-the-game-and-screw-independents-nyc-is-proof-cas-terrible-prop-50-and-a-new-fight-in-maryland-we-decide-election\/","title":{"rendered":"366. John Opdycke. Our Broken Election Day. The Parties Rigged the Game and Screw\u00a0 Independents\u2014NYC is Proof. CA\u2019s Terrible Prop 50 and a New Fight in Maryland. We Decide Elections\u2013But Not the Narrative. Taking Kids to Vote. Wisdom From Kurt Vonnegut.\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=ANA8490936809\" width=\"100%\" height=\"210\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this Election Day special, we\u2019re bringing a take unlike any other you\u2019ll hear. Your host Paul Rieckhoff (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulRieckhoff\"><u>@PaulRieckhoff<\/u><\/a>) digs in with John Opdycke (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jbopdycke\"><u>@jbopdycke<\/u><\/a>), President of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openprimaries.org\/\"><u>Open Primaries<\/u><\/a> and a Godfather of the independent reform and open primaries movement, for a smart, fast and urgent conversation about what\u2019s really happening today in elections nationwide. Our elections are dominating news today\u2013but they\u2019re badly broken. You\u2019ll learn about why democracy is losing in many places nationwide today. But also, how John, his team, and our independent movement are fighting back\u2013in states ranging from Oklahoma to Texas to Pennsylvania to Maryland\u2013where a new threat to independents and democracy was just launched by the Democrat Governor there. John and Paul explain the movement to dismantle closed party systems, the impact of open primaries on America\u2019s future, and why fixing the rules of our elections could be the key to reclaiming our democracy. And giving independent voters a real voice\u2013and independent candidates a real shot to win. Learn why open primaries could be the key reform to empower voters, restore trust, and shake up the system. If you&#8217;re tired of party bosses, the corrupt and failing Democratic and Republican party, frustrated by rigged elections, or searching for ways to take power back, this episode is your guide. Election Day class is in session with Professor Opdycke!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democracy isn\u2019t a spectator sport. Watch or listen now for an authentic, independent take on what\u2019s broken\u2014and what we can fix together. Especially on this Election Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Because every episode of Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the most important news stories&#8211;and offers light to contrast the heat of other politics and news shows. Its independent content for independent Americans. In these trying times especially, Independent Americans is your trusted place for independent news, politics, inspiration and hope. The podcast that helps you stay ahead of the curve&#8211;and stay vigilant.<\/p>\n<p>-John Opdycke\u2019s previous appearances: <a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.us\/219-john-opdycke-breaking-49-of-voters-are-now-independents-dissecting-the-new-gallup-poll-where-are-the-independent-candidates-angry-crazy-person-shootings-bidens-new-executive-order\/\"><u>April 20, 2023 &#8211; Episode 219.<\/u><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.us\/171-john-opdycke-opening-primaries-for-independents-who-are-independents-millions-blocked-from-voting-taxpayers-are-funding-closed-primaries-new-maine-law-opens-primaries-is-nebraska-the-future\/\"><u>May 19, 2022 &#8211; Episode 171<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p>-Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/openprimaries.org\/\"><u>John\u2019s work with Open Primaries and sign up to help<\/u><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>-WATCH video of this episode on YouTube now.<\/p>\n<p>-Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/independentveteransofamerica.org\/\"><u>Independent Veterans of America<\/u><\/a> and all of <a href=\"https:\/\/independentveteransofamerica.org\/candidates\/\"><u>the IVA candidates<\/u><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/independentamericans\/posts\"><u>Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community<\/u><\/a> of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>-Check the hashtag <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23LookForTheHelpers&amp;src=typed_query\"><u>#LookForTheHelpers<\/u><\/a>. And share yours.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>-Find us on social media or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independentamericans.us\"><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.IndependentAmericans.us\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.IndependentAmericans.us<\/a><\/u><\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.us\/merch\/\"><u>And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch<\/u><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>-Check out other Righteous podcasts like <a href=\"https:\/\/thefirefighters.us\/\"><u>The Firefighters Podcast with Rob Serra<\/u><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/unclemontel.us\/\"><u>Uncle Montel &#8211; The OG of Weed<\/u><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bdorm.us\/\"><u>B Dorm<\/u><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led <a href=\"https:\/\/righteous.us\/\"><u>Righteous Media<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Spotify: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0F1lzdRbTB0XYen8kyEqXe\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0F1lzdRbTB0XYen8kyEqXe<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Apple Podcasts: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/id1457899667\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/id1457899667<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amazon Podcasts: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/49a684c3-68e1-4a85-8d93-d95027a8ec64\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\"><u><a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/49a684c3-68e1-4a85-8d93-d95027a8ec64\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/49a684c3-68e1-4a85-8d93-d95027a8ec64\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff<\/a><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ways to watch:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>YouTube: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@independentamericans\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@independentamericans<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Instagram: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>X\/Twitter:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/indy_americans\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/x.com\/indy_americans<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>BlueSky:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/indyamericans.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/indyamericans.bsky.social<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Facebook:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\"><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/<\/a><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ways to listen:Social channels:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/megaphone.fm\/adchoices\">megaphone.fm\/adchoices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this Election Day special, we\u2019re bringing a take unlike any other you\u2019ll hear. Your host Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) digs in with John Opdycke (@jbopdycke), President of Open Primaries and a Godfather of the independent reform and open primaries movement, for a smart, fast and urgent conversation about what\u2019s really happening today in elections nationwide.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/366-john-opdycke-our-broken-election-day-the-parties-rigged-the-game-and-screw-independents-nyc-is-proof-cas-terrible-prop-50-and-a-new-fight-in-maryland-we-decide-election\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">366. John Opdycke. Our Broken Election Day. The Parties Rigged the Game and Screw\u00a0 Independents\u2014NYC is Proof. CA\u2019s Terrible Prop 50 and a New Fight in Maryland. We Decide Elections\u2013But Not the Narrative. Taking Kids to Vote. Wisdom From Kurt Vonnegut.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-episodes","entry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d.jpg",800,800,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d.jpg",800,800,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d.jpg",800,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d.jpg",750,750,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d.jpg",800,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d.jpg",800,800,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/334cf86f90842c6a5531214c2443e43d.jpg",800,800,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/category\/episodes\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Episodes<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"In this Election Day special, we\u2019re bringing a take unlike any other you\u2019ll hear. Your host Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) digs in with John Opdycke (@jbopdycke), President of Open Primaries and a Godfather of the independent reform and open primaries movement, for a smart, fast and urgent conversation about what\u2019s really happening today in elections nationwide.&hellip;&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}