The First Step

The First Step works because it’s as honest about the state of government as it is passionate about doing so.

The First Step engages without patronizing and tries to provide a balanced portrait of Jones and his causes.

While there’s much to admire here, there are stylistic choices that vex. The First Step stumbles as it tries to balance its interest in Jones with the significance of the bill.

At once a story of legislative struggle and an admiring profile of a crusader, The First Step sometimes gets bogged down in bromides about community and common ground rather than unpacking the specifics of Jones’s approach and how it differs from his detractors’.