Jennifer Wagner Chartier/ Special to IBJ

Protests and vigils are nothing new. They are evidence of a democratic impulse as old as America itself.

The one thing that’s clearly missing on the Democratic side: strong candidates.

Maybe this is a chance to spark a new conversation about things we might be able to agree on instead of staying stuck in our trenches.

As we head toward this Fourth of July, I hope we will remember that the fireworks of democracy don’t just light up the sky once a year.

Lots of people run for office knowing they have very little chance of winning.

I was filled with an emotion that far too many Hoosiers know.

We can’t take action if we’re consumed by distraction.

We can make changes, and those changes might require shifting financial support, but we must always be mindful of the consequences of our actions.

Trust in local news organizations fell far less, from 82% to 74%.

Regardless of party, we need our elected officials … to run things well.

If you’re even remotely plugged into local politics, you know several folks other than Shackleford have been jockeying to be Indy’s next chief executive for quite some time.

Voters have to feel like you’ve got their back, that they can trust you to do right by them.

In my experience, the people and organizations that lead with honesty and transparency are the ones who succeed as leaders in the long run—even if their ideas do not.

It took a little more than a fortnight for the national political landscape to shift in ways we never imagined.

These days, politics feels more like competitive eating, where you shove as much food as you can.

It might not feel like it for fans who’ve had the rug pulled out from under them, but the Indy Eleven might have the upper hand here.

The way all of this has unfolded feels sudden, secretive and un-Hoosier-like.

All of this is a very good thing for democracy, which operates best when it operates in the sunlight.

It’s not a huge surprise that, unless there’s a hot topic on the agenda, most public meeting rooms are either empty or filled with people who get paid to be there.