Is it politicians or politics that is bad?

It is the vast majority of politicians.

 

One (or both) sends the other one (or both) bad....

 

Both are bad!

We need Major Change in Washington. Neither party is, or will ever be good again I am afraid.

Jamie

 

I agree. I am a very disillusioned Republican, but I don't like the Democratic party either.

 

Ever since the election of 1960 (Kennedy vs Nixon), the quality of Presidential candidates has dwindled. The curve has gone almost south for the 2000 and 2004 elections (ie Bush, Gore and Kerry).

Our system of nominating candidates and the two present parties is broken. Using a little common sense, there are 300 million Americans. There have to be some that have good leadership ability, know the difference between right and wrong, have a love for the American people, and know how to execute foreign and domestic policy. Look at what happens, after all the primaries, after all the campaigning, after all the conventions, we end up with two basically losers. One is usually a bigger loser than the other. Of 300 million, Bush and Kerry was the best we had?

The Republicans have failed to lead, both Congress and the President. They deserve to lose power. The problem is that the democrats are just as inept in a different way.

The Constitution has nothing to do with the present two party system. It is time to dismantle them and produce a system that brings out the best quality candidates.

 

Why bother to vote? I did vote in the primary, but what's the point?

 

The problem began when Nixon used marketing people in his campaigns. They quickly discovered the most effective way to motivate people to vote was to appeal to fear and hatred. So the goal became to make the opponent look as evil and incompetent as possible. The attack ad was born. People love attack ads. And it's become like professional sports more than civics.

Karl Rove is just the latest of these guys. Ehrlichman, Atwater, Morris, Carville, etc. all have one thing in mind. Win. The good of America isn't even in the equation.

Is it any wonder we get what we get?