They’re baaaack…

How do you measure a political party’s success? It seems like a simple question with an obvious answer: by electoral wins. Or maybe, by the amount of power it wields. That certainly seems to be the prevailing thought of America’s two major parties. While they each have their own rigid ideologies that guide how they use their power, each measures its success by how much power it can exert. That kind of thinking has led to inevitable dysfunction, as each side seeks ideologically pure victories at the expense of solving problems. And there’s another side effect. As Congress became more and more deadlocked due to this constant power-measuring contest, both parties have turned toward executive action, raising the stakes for every presidential election: One race to run the country. Yet, the place where you can do the most good is in your community. Yes, federal elections matter, but the best way to start fixing our politics is by electing unifying and problem-solving leaders to the offices that have the most impact on your life. Mayor, Town Supervisors, School Boards, Treasurer, Dog Catcher—any local office that makes decisions that impact you, your family, and your community. The movement to take American politics forward starts in your community, where we can tackle the problems that affect us most directly. So let’s take a second to stop looking at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and look instead down the street, to find the community leaders who will put in the work to solve problems both big and small. —Mike Ongstad, Communications Director, Forward Party

• Ukraine pushes to retake all land from Russia, calls for Western arms —Reuters

• Stocks tumble, dollar rallies as soaring U.S. inflation implies an aggressive Fed —Reuters

• Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island hold final primaries —The Fulcrum

• Biden pushes efforts to end cancer on 60th anniversary of JFK's 'moonshot' speech —ABC News

• Graham proposes 15-week abortion ban, seeking to unite Republicans —The New York Times

• Whistleblower: China, India had agents working for Twitter —Associated Press

• Former federal prosecutor says Barr fired him because investigations threatened Trump’s reelection chances —The Hill

• Blinken calls Iran's latest response to nuclear deal proposal a 'step backward' —CNN

• Canadian Conservatives elect ‘right-wing populist’ Pierre Poilievre to lead fight against Justin Trudeau —CBS News

• DHS chief: Domestic extremism threats increased since 9/11 —Axios

Well, look who’s back in town

Much speculation arose over the past two days as to why Donald Trump flew into the Washington, D.C., area on Sunday, unannounced, to no fanfare. Sorry to say, but we don’t have any big scoops to share. Instead we’re watching the House select committee closely, as they return to Congress this month. Since we last saw the panel, they have interviewed a number of new witnesses while seeking the cooperation of such prominent GOP figures as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and former Vice President Mike Pence. The committee is promising to air its new findings in at least one public hearing this month, with another perhaps to follow in October. —The Hill

• DOJ moves on Trump like a… Which brings us to the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election. Justice officials have seized the phones of two top Trump advisers—Boris Epshteyn, an in-house counsel who helps coordinate his legal efforts, and Mike Roman, the director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign in 2020—and issued subpoenas to about 40 other aides in a substantial escalation of the probe. Epshteyn and Roman have been linked to the plan to name slates of fake electors from swing states won by Joe Biden. —The New York Times

• The master debate. The DOJ also filed court papers yesterday indicating it would accept a former chief federal judge—Raymond Dearie—as a special master charged with reviewing the documents seized by the FBI from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. It now falls to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to decide whether to appoint Dearie and to resolve disputes about how the special master should proceed, including who will pay for their work, whether the review will include an examination of classified documents, and whether to lift the restriction barring the FBI from using the documents in its ongoing investigation. —The Washington Post

• “I am deeply concerned that sensitive presidential records may remain out of the control and custody of the U.S. Government.” Meanwhile, the National Archives is still not certain that it has custody of all the missing presidential records—even after the FBI search. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform revealed that staff at the Archives on an Aug. 24 call could not provide assurances that they have all of Trump’s presidential records. The committee submitted a letter to the Archives today, asking for an assessment of which records, if any, remain unaccounted for. —Associated Press

MORE: Jan. 6 panel thinks Tony Ornato tried to discredit Cassidy Hutchinson —Insider

Illing & Gershberg: When the greatest threat to democracy is a feature of democracy

“The paradox at the heart of this debate—the idea that democracy contains the ingredients for its own destruction—tells us that free expression and its sometimes troubling consequences are a feature, not a bug. What sometimes changes are novel forms of media, which come along and clear democratic space for all manner of persuasion. Patterns of bias and distortion and propaganda accompany each evolution.” —Sean Illing & Zac Gershberg in The New York Times

Sean Illing is the host of “Vox Conversations.” Zac Gershberg is an associate professor of journalism and media studies at Idaho State University. They are the authors of “The Paradox of Democracy: Free Speech, Open Media, and Perilous Persuasion.”

MORE: How tech firms are prepping for the midterm elections —NPR

Temko: Better voting = better representation

“[V]oices are being marginalized in both the U.S. and Britain, where the major parties are bitterly at odds, disinclined to cooperate, and confident that the existing system protects them from any serious challenge to their hold on national politics. Alaska-style ranked voting, or any other version of the system used in over 80 democracies around the world, would threaten that duopoly.” —Ned Temko in The Christian Science Monitor

Ned Temko is an author and foreign correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. Over a decades-long career, he has covered a wide range of stories, including the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Nelson Mandela’s release from prison.

MORE: David Stinger: Can a ranked choice challenge extremes? —The Lawton Constitution

Time’s running out on election bills

As the clock ticks down on the Democratic-controlled Congress, bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing attempts to steal elections and another attack on the Capitol is still sitting on the shelf. There’s an urgency to act because Democrats—and some Republicans—worry that a possible GOP-controlled House would ignore the issue next year. In the Senate, the growing expectation is that a vote will be punted into the lame duck session between the Nov. 8 midterm election and when the new Congress is seated on Jan. 3. “I hope there’s going to be a vote soon,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, a member of the bipartisan group that developed the bills.

• “We must update the antiquated Electoral Count Act.” The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act would clarify the 1887 law to limit the vice president’s role to counting votes, raise the threshold to object to certain electors, beef up laws around certifying elections for the rightful winner, and promote an orderly presidential transition. It recently landed its 10th GOP sponsor in Sen. Chuck Grassley, giving it enough support to overcome a filibuster if Democrats unify.

• “There are some issues that could be run into.” The second bill is the Enhanced Election Security and Protection Act, which would establish new rules for protecting electronic records and toughen penalties for intimidating poll workers or officials. There is some doubt as to whether it will have the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster, as some Republicans, including Sens. Ben Sasse and Lindsey Graham, have endorsed the first bill but not the second.

• “Well, I’m not really sure that states need federal intervention now.” Many Republicans are expected to oppose both bills, fearing they will alienate supporters of Donald Trump, who might see them as a condemnation of the ex-president. Even though they were forced to flee from rioters on Jan. 6, Trump allies in the Senate now say they aren’t too concerned about future elections and don’t see a need for any changes to the nation’s archaic laws. Stay tuned. —NBC News

MORE: New Washington, D.C., bill would end voter registration as you know it —Bolts Magazine

Ayanian: Is it time to give third parties a chance?

“Americans are incredibly unhappy with the state of the union. In fact, a whopping 74% say the country is moving in the wrong direction. … Whether the current sentiment materializes into votes for Libertarian Party candidates, Forward Party candidates, or others remains to be seen. But as long as a significant percentage of voters believes they must vote for one side of the duopoly every election cycle, no matter what, the state of our politics will not improve. At the moment, both sides of the duopoly feel entitled to our votes. It is up to us as voters to make candidates earn them.” —Benjamin Ayanian on Inside Sources

Benjamin Ayanian is a contributor for Young Voices whose writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and Yahoo News.

Rogers: Restoring the ‘soul of the nation’

“We’re at a time when kindness and restraint are nation-saving skills. It’s never too late to connect with our fellow Americans on both sides. Even the most hard-headed people are still part of the national tapestry and our own human family. We can make peace. And we can gently—ever so gently—for as long as we breathe, maintain objective truth.” —Lisa Rogers on The Fearless Moderate

Lisa Rogers is a political opinion writer and editor of The Fearless Moderate.

MORE: What recent history says about democracy and the state of politics —NPR

I agree it is up to the people, not politicians, to fix our democracy. If we don't like the way our elected representatives are doing their jobs, we need to vote them out. If we don't like the two major parties, let's find a good third party or people with no party affiliation and vote them in. Sending the same people back to Congress over and over hoping things will get better will not cut it. —John C., Florida

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Renew America Foundation.