I don't believe in the wisdom of the American voter in the aggregate

[cali]

Sure, there are individual places where the voters do a pretty decent job, but on the whole the electorate is stupid, highly persuadable and not well informed. And that's the people that even bother to vote. It's not like this is something new. This is a country that rejected Adlai Stevenson- and one of the main raps against him was that he was an "egghead".

This is a country with a very slim intellectual political tradition; one that's long been rooted in snappy campaign slogans and the veneer of issues rather than substance, and that's become even more pronounced in recent decades.

Throw huge amounts of money into that mix and what you end up with is a mockery of democracy.

It's a mess. An intractable problem.

Sorry if that's elitist.

[elleng]

1. Not elitist, true, imo.

Rather than 'stupid,' I'd say 'ignorant,' which is aided and abetted by propaganda, and leads to not well informed.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. 100% correct.

The notion that we are a thriving democracy is laughable. Many folks in other countries just point and laugh.

[Va Lefty]

3. Without a return of the "Fairness Doctrine" we are screwed

really don't see a way to combat the daily 4-5 hour indoctrination many listen to on rw radio. It has a cumulative effect

[Old and In the Way]

4. Nope...we obviously haven't suffered enough yet.

Oh well, they'll keep voting for their "team" and wonder why their standard of living continues to degrade, why infrastructure is crumbling, why the water and air and food are degrading. They "win", but they actually continue to lose along with the rest of us. I guess that's the only consolation I get from WI.

[KT2000]

5. some proof in WA state

WA voters approved an initiative that took liquor out of control of the state and privatized it. Voters "thought" the prices would go down. Now that the transfer has been made, everyone is shocked that the prices have gone up. Most voters never bothered to read the law and are now astounded at what was in it.
The governor and legislature had nothing to do with it (Costco did) but the whiners are blaming government!!

The whole thing is damn hopeless. When you combine mean with stupid - what a mess.

[HiPointDem]

10. isn't it funny? but it has nothing to do with whether people are "smart" or not.

[Nye Bevan]

6. They were pretty wise in 2008, weren't they? (nt)

[cali]

7. Sometimes you get lucky.

[Nye Bevan]

11. So JFK, Carter, Clinton and Obama were pure dumb luck.

Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes, on the other hand, demonstrate the aggregate ignorance of the US electorate.

Thanks.

[Gregorian]

8. We need to stop the commercialization of our election process.

The few places with intellectual integrity are the metropolitan areas with universities. It shouldn't be this way. And this is why we need good schools throughout the country.

When elections are packaged like a product, then the majority of the people who are not well educated, will often vote for the more polished product. Not only that, but negativity always seems to have an air of legitimacy about it.

A fair playing field in both our elections and school system needs to be established.

[HiPointDem]

9. yes, yes, only you & those like you are smart enough to vote.

[cali]

15. where am I suggesting that, dear?

[lindysalsagal]

12. Tragic lack of critical thinking in america.

Every day I see people pull into the local BP and buy their gas. Never dawns on them that this company has trashed our coast and don't deserve to do business here.

Every day people think they can have everything they want without paying the bill: War without taxes, school without taxes, social security, medicare, affordable health insurance, on and on. And George Bush gives them tax cuts that shred the economy and they decide it must be the new black guy who's to blame.

It comes down to one question: "Do their words match their actions?"

That's just beyond people. We've been suckled on slick advertising and marketing, and the GOP has hired those marketers to convince people not to believe what they see and hear and know: We only believe what we're told to believe.

I think the original colonists could at least think for themselves. I think that's over, and the GOP is counting on it.

[pwb]

13. Turnout is low for democrats in special elections, the result is the pukes win.

Keep the faith we will win big again this November. We vote big in presidential elections. We need to correct this, it is how the pukes won congress in 2010, low turn out.

[libtodeath]

14. Hatred and stupidity

dont care if it sounds bad to say it,am fed up with these motherfuckers who vote for people that will laugh when they get thrown out of thier homes.
Fuck them.

[gulliver]

16. Republicans are doing us a favor by truly testing democracy.

Can democracy withstand an all-out assault of lies and baseless (but effective) rhetoric? How small is it possible to make the impact of common sense, reason, and knowledge of history on an election?

The Republicans are helping us find out the answer.

[Sirveri]

17. Ban Television.

Seriously. Marketing has been refined to a science. Radio makes people actually listen to the arguments, instead of reading body language. Even there the written word is superior as you lose tone and inflection, you have time to think about your replies and rebuttals. Now it is all about strength and poise and less about knowledge and thought.

[bigtree]

18. 'the electorate is stupid'

there. you said it.

It does sound 'elitist.'

[bermudat]

19. not elitist, just the truth.

I know, I've lived in Louisiana, Texas and North Carolina.