Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Drew Penrose, Legal Director at the election reform advocacy organization FairVote, and by Bob Schlehuber, producer of Radio Sputnik’s By Any Means Necessary with Eugene Puryear. Tomorrow’s the presidential election in the United States, but how democratic is the system really? Becker looks at how the boundaries of electoral constituencies have been used to undermine democracy, and the unpopular system known as the electoral college.Nicaragua’s elections took place yesterday with the Sandinistas and President Daniel Ortega achieving victory once again for a third consecutive time since 2006. What accounts for the success and popularity of the Sandinistas today, 37 years after their revolution first ushered them to power? Louise Richards, Trade Union and Communications Coordinator for the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG) in the UK, joins Becker to discuss the importance of the FSLN victory. The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Mar