Bridge Grades
A non-partisan report card for Congress to sort legislative “bridgers” from “dividers” in both parties
Bridge Grades is like Rotten Tomatoes for Congress. Our non-partisan polarization report card scores members of Congress on how collaboratively or divisively they govern. We use objective 3rd party data to score Congress members on how well they collaborate, build coalitions, and deliver consensus solutions.
Letter grades (A, B, C, F) sort “bridgers” from “dividers” based on what (1) politicians say (rhetoric) and (2) what they do (legislative records such as bill authoring, sponsorship, and bipartisan effectiveness).
Bridgers build win-win consensus solutions through cross-partisan coalitions and collaboration for the benefit of common interests
Dividers pursue zero-sum game governance, engage in personal attacks, and demonstrate predictably partisan legislative records
Bridge Grades is a citizen-led public utility. Our ambition is to build a durable system that can endure and remain protected from big money or special interests. Bridge Grades is designed to be open-source, crowdsourced, and independently governed. We are part way on a multi-year journey to get there.
Bridge Grades is a fiscally sponsored project of Mediators Foundation and all donations to Bridge Grades are tax-deductible. For more articles and to follow the action, please subscribe to our Substack: bridgegrades.substack.com.
Project Director Bio:
After two decades helping lead consumer technology companies, including 14 years living and working abroad (Singapore, Amsterdam), Brad Porteus returned to America in 2024 alarmed by the headwinds our country faces due to deeply entrenched political polarization and identity politics. Convicted that emerging technology and data science can be used for good, Brad recognized that for the first time, it has become technically possible to objectively sort politicians on a new dimension and identify leaders (using objective 3rd party measures and data) to spot all-star collaborators from both parties who are the most suitable to lead our deliciously eclectic population. His vision is to inspire everyday Americans to drop their red or blue colored identity politics and to unite together and vote for and donate to bridgers regardless of their ideology or party affiliation.
Married and a father of two young men, Brad lives in Redwood City, California, and enjoys timelapse photography, trail running, and live music.