Hal Ginsberg argues that despite the temptations of third-party candidates and their more progressive stances, beating Trump and retaining a moderately progressive national administration can only be accomplished by a Clinton-Kaine victory.

All politics local this week: News and future events in Montgomery, Howard, Prince George's and Charles counties plus the Loan Sharknado and a smorgasbord of recent blogs.

The Progressive Maryland PM BlogSpace has hosted 108 posts since June 2015 -- a storehouse of information on state and local governance and activism. Here's an index with links.

Twenty-eight Democratic US Senators have joined the call supporting the federal payday lending regulation proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- and urging that they be made even stronger.

Montgomery County Council members heard loud and clear from unions and their progressive allies that a bill tilting the field against labor in arbitration would not sneak through.

The National Doorstep Convention came to Maryland last weekend as Progressive Maryland volunteers took the pulse of everyday people, their issues and concerns, as a presidential election approaches.

A major change to the Subdivision Ordinance in Prince George’s is being rushed through to help one developer. County-wide impacts remain murky but could be disastrous for any Smart Growth effort

Will the concerns and hopes of everyday people be reflected at the major parties' political conventions? The National Doorstep Convention canvass this weekend aims to be sure that the pressure on struggling households doesn't get lost in the political glitter.

In Prince George's it's election shenanigans, busting the general plan and more Walmart; in Montgomery it's the Fight for Fifteen, sly union-busting and backsliding on paid sick leave. Money never sleeps.

A progressive high point reached two years ago when Prince George's, Montgomery and the District got together on a minimum wage increase has not been sustained since then, with fearful official behavior and truckling to business interests creeping back in to sabotage a pro-people agenda.