Because the two party system has failed the citizens of the US. The common man is no longer represented and the politicians do not need him to gain power. Both parties are bought and paid for by business, the military industrial complex as well liberal and conservative special interest groups that are well funded and can push their agendas.
Most recent elections have been won by candidates who had the most money and resources advertise. Much of this advertising is used to point out real or fictional flaws of the other candidates and their message. Which begs the question why would anyone vote for a candidate that they know nothing about? Because these political ads provide very little real information on what the candidate stands for or will do, we are left to make choice based on the same information we use choose commercial brand names from cars to blue jeans, slick advertising. People will respond to the must appealing message. Whether the message is the truth is of very little consequence to the candidate because unlike consumers, voters have very little recourse if the elected candidates actions do not match the campaign ads. Until the candidates term expires in two, four, or even six years. Incumbent elected officials do not fear reelection because once in office they are able to consolidate power and garner massive resources to all but guarantee another term. Term limitations at the federal, state and. local have helped with choice but as long as we only really have two political parties, elected officials tend to be able to replace themselves with clones belonging to the same political affiliation.
Many people vote, but become skeptical of the whole process, when their chosen candidate is found to be less than genuine. The political parties foster this because a large voter turn is a threat to incumbency, allowing the other party to gain power. Without any viable third party candidate to vote for the simple choice is "choose not to choose", which further divides and conquers the electorate. If this disenfranchised voter does become a none voter they will fall into the "the lesser of two evils" category. Voting for the candidate that is the least distasteful. The single voter has no real power in this political duality because while a candidate may claim that they have the best interests of the citizenry, they often only have the best interest of those entities that provide them resources to stay in power.
Most recent elections have been won by candidates who had the most money and resources advertise. Much of this advertising is used to point out real or fictional flaws of the other candidates and their message. Which begs the question why would anyone vote for a candidate that they know nothing about? Because these political ads provide very little real information on what the candidate stands for or will do, we are left to make choice based on the same information we use choose commercial brand names from cars to blue jeans, slick advertising. People will respond to the must appealing message. Whether the message is the truth is of very little consequence to the candidate because unlike consumers, voters have very little recourse if the elected candidates actions do not match the campaign ads. Until the candidates term expires in two, four, or even six years. Incumbent elected officials do not fear reelection because once in office they are able to consolidate power and garner massive resources to all but guarantee another term. Term limitations at the federal, state and. local have helped with choice but as long as we only really have two political parties, elected officials tend to be able to replace themselves with clones belonging to the same political affiliation.
Many people vote, but become skeptical of the whole process, when their chosen candidate is found to be less than genuine. The political parties foster this because a large voter turn is a threat to incumbency, allowing the other party to gain power. Without any viable third party candidate to vote for the simple choice is "choose not to choose", which further divides and conquers the electorate. If this disenfranchised voter does become a none voter they will fall into the "the lesser of two evils" category. Voting for the candidate that is the least distasteful. The single voter has no real power in this political duality because while a candidate may claim that they have the best interests of the citizenry, they often only have the best interest of those entities that provide them resources to stay in power.
Well written and thoughtful. Wish we had solutions. Media plays a huge role in this mess.
ReplyDelete