Ohio, Indiana writers win June 16-30 segment of ‘American Pundit’ contest

Results from the June 16-30 segment of The American Pundit are in, with writers from Ohio and Indiana earning $250 apiece and gaining eligibility for the $5,000 Grand Prize, to be awarded after the November elections.

The Writing Assignment question for the second half of June cited a Rasmussen poll showing Colorado voters poised to legalize and regulate marijuana and asked if the time had come to change the laws. We received submissions taking both sides of the issue, but Allvoices Stringer James Stotter, an economics consultant from Columbus, Ohio, took the prize with “Ban corn, legalize marijuana: two questions.”

Stotter asks readers to imagine what would happen if corn were suddenly declared illegal even as marijuana was legalized. He outlined a scenario that involved both economics and policing priorities. His second question asks readers what they would do if they wanted to ensure that the drug cartels would continue to make lots of money, which led to a comparison of marijuana prohibition now and alcohol prohibition in the 1920s.

Stotter, who joined Allvoices June 23, earns a promotion to Anchor in addition to the cash bonus and advancement in The American Pundit contest.

In the general topic category, a veteran journalist writing his first piece for Allvoices took the honors with his analysis of Joe Biden’s June 20 speech to the National Association of Black Journalists meeting in New Orleans. In “VP Biden hammers Romney in front of black journalists,” Clyde Hughes of West Lafeyette, Ind., summarized Biden’s speech in a clear, concise fashion and gave readers additional insight into President Obama’s second-in-command.

Hughes joined Allvoices on May 29 and will be promoted from Stringer to Anchor, as well. Both Stotter and Hughes can now submit reports to Allvoices’ Select Media program. We hope both these writers will keep the reports coming.

The current Writing Assignment deals with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on health care:

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, how will the health care debate play out in the 2012 presidential campaign?

The next deadline for entries is at 11:59 p.m. on July 15. Two additional winners will be selected from the entrants, with at least one winner picked from entries on the assigned topic.

Stay on top of the campaign with The American Pundit’s unique combination of citizen punditry and citizen journalism at http://www.allvoices.com/election2012. If you like writing about U.S. politics and the 2012 campaign, enter "The American Pundit" competition. Allvoices is awarding four $250 prizes each month between now and November. These monthly winners earn eligibility for the $5,000 grand prize and the $1,000 runner-up prize, to be awarded after the November election. Head tohttp://www.allvoices.com/write_now to sign up!