The last election?
When elections cost $4 billion only people who have $4 billion can afford them.
By
Ed Garvey
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What kind of a democracy do we have when the only candidates who can get on the ballot or join the debate for most offices are from the two corporatist parties? No matter who gets elected, most people are not really represented. The 'two party system' is rigged to keep out alternatives to Wall St rule. The United States could take a lesson from many of the democracies that have emerged since its founding, most are far more democratic than this corporate dictatorship.
-Ron | SoCal | October 30, 2012
My favorite baseball manager Whitey Herzog said it: Put a winner on the field and they'll put fans in the seats. The same thing goes for politics.
Money isn't as important if the candidate can nail the issues, offer solutions, and connect with the public. The money and people will come. RFK proved it in '68. McGovern proved it in '72.
RFK would have won it. McGovern was sabotaged by the Dem party heads.
Since then, the Dems have jettisoned any traces of FDR and became the liberal wing of the Republican party. In effect, the Dems have become the party of Nelson Rockefeller.
Real Democrats (not the ones running today) can still win it. FDR won four terms and he didn't care if he hurt the GOP's feelings or not. He definitely wasn't a wimp and didn't pretend he was some kind of facilitator. He knew what leadership was, something modern day gutless wonders don't have a clue about.
Btw, just for grins, here's the voter turnout mid-20th century ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections ).
1932 - 56.9%
1936 - 61.0%
1940 - 62.5%
1944 - 55.9%
1948 - 53.0%
1952 - 63.3%
1956 - 60.6%
1960 - 63.11%
1964 - 61.93%
1968 - 60.83%
1972 - 55.22%
Believe it or not, since 1828 voter turnout exceeded 80% three times:
1840 - 80.2%
1860 - 81.2%
1876 - 81.8%
So yes, this is the most important election in our lifetimes again (until 2016). Bush proved that it matters.
But, a third party will come and people will get behind it, because the two running today make sure the status quo stays the same. People really do want something to believe in and they want results.
-Mad Hemingway | Heart of Badger country | November 1, 2012
