About Me
Welcome to my website!
I'm a nonpartisan political analyst, self-published author, researcher, and public speaker, accumulating both professional and educational experience in political science. I work for a couple of nonpartisan political websites while writing about political science on Medium.com in my free time. (All opinions expressed in my works are mine and not of my employers). I earned an M.A. in political science with a certificate in political campaigning from the University of Florida (Go Gators!) in 2019 and a B.A. in political science from the University of South Florida in 2015 (Go Bulls!)
In my latest endeavor, I wrote and self-published my first book! Why Independents Rarely Win Elections: And How They Could Become More Competitive takes a comprehensive look at the roadblocks facing independent candidates for political office in the U.S., how these factors combine to wreak havoc on independents' election chances, and some actionable steps toward possibly increasing their chances of winning. The book is not meant to be for OR against more independents getting elected, but to lay out the current situation for them and the ways it would have to change to make them more viable contenders for elected offices.
Why I Do What I Do
Like many of you, I'm worn out by the toxicity of the political climate. Yet my frustrations go beyond mudslinging candidates and heavily-biased media outlets across the political spectrum. The state of political analysis is also a point of exasperation. It isn't always a matter of being imbalanced—sometimes it is just sensationalized, superficial, not truly informative, or otherwise tailored more for ratings instead of being educational and helpful. Even when it is quality analysis, I sometimes feel that much more could be done to make it better and appealing to more people while still focusing on truly being informative. There is also a lot in politics that often doesn't get covered when it should.
It's the inner workings of politics that fascinate me—the why and how. It's one thing to know what government is and what it does. But what about why it does those things and how did it come to be that way? What are the effects and how do we analyze them? Those questions and more are where people like me come in. I love learning that kind of stuff and helping others learn and understand it.
Civics and enhancing political efficacy are a couple of my biggest passions—but right now American civics is in rough shape. It's often not taught well or sufficiently, if at all. I want to fix that and be part of the solution. I want to change how we talk about and analyze politics, and how we impart that information to the wider public. I want more people to realize just how important being knowledgeable about politics is. I want to show more people that politics is interesting, worth their time to understand, and can be basically understood by people outside of the field.
I still have many ideas and plans in service of those ideals. Some are big and some are small. Some are in the near future and some still have a way to go. I intend to write more books, but it goes beyond that. It includes public speaking and potentially even getting into more visual media. I hope that my work strikes a chord with you, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum.
How I Came to Do What I Do
It was about the time of junior year in high school that I realized that political science was the field I wanted to go into for a career. I didn't know what exactly I wanted to do then, but my class in AP U.S. History made me fully realize my interest in history and politics. I'd go on to attend the University of South Florida after graduation, eventually becoming a proud Bull alumnus with a bachelor's degree in political science.
It was at USF, in late 2014, that I finally discovered what I wanted to do in political science, when I took a class taught by the venerable Dr. Susan MacManus. I had seen Dr. MacManus on TV during Florida election times and I jumped at the chance to have her as a professor. It was one of the most important decisions I made in my career, as she became the single biggest influence on what I wanted to do—become a nonpartisan political analyst. I admired how much Dr. MacManus kept her own political opinions to herself and focused on bringing people important information without a partisan, ideological, or issue bias. I try to emulate her basic approach in my work but make it uniquely my own, with my voice and personality.
Dr. MacManus was also instrumental in my next big step in political science—applying for the political campaigning graduate program in political science from the University of Florida. She vouched for me by writing a letter of recommendation and personally pushing for me to then-program director Dr. Stephen Craig (who still teaches there). Although the program centered on the academic and practical aspects of campaigning, a wide variety of professions have been made out of graduating from the program that aren't necessarily directly concerned with political campaigns (which was fortunate considering I expressly did not, and still do not, want to be a campaigner or candidate for office). It was a perfect fit for me, and it opened up my eyes to just how much there was to still learn about politics. I would eventually earn my master's degree from the program to also become a proud Gator alumnus.
It was during and since grad school that I started to truly come into my own. I wanted to forge my own path in the field of political science. I started writing about political science in my own time, stayed the course on nonpartisan work, and wrote my first book. I'm continuing that endeavor as I delve deeper into public speaking and writing, and I'm excited to see where this all goes.
Outside of Political Science
Thankfully, it's not all about politics 24/7 with me. Variety is the spice of life, after all. (Not to mention that much politics would drive me insane.) My other interests include:
I regularly exercise. I especially enjoy playing basketball and lifting weights.
I'm a video game enthusiast. I'm a particularly avid fan and player of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series.
I'm very interested in voice acting and hope to add that to my repertoire at some point. I like doing all sorts of voices and impressions (though their quality varies).
As a proud alumnus of both the University of South Florida and University of Florida, I'm a supporter of both, especially USF. I used to be a regular fixture at USF football and basketball games as a student and in the couple of years after graduation (hopefully I can go back to attending their games at some point).
I love astronomy. I was a big space nerd when I was a kid, and I still find it fascinating now.
I'm a cartophile—a big fan of maps. That goes for both the real world and those that come from my favorite fictional franchises.
I can't get enough of history, particularly American history. It's arguably the most important subject—you know how the old saying goes about those who don't know history.
My favorite band is Alice in Chains—both their older music with Layne Staley and their newer music with William Duvall. My two favorite musicians are Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park).
For all its absurdity, I love my state, Florida. It's both because of and in spite of said absurdity.