Ever see something that confirms what you already know but reveals it to be vastly more godawful than you'd previously imagined? I had just such a revelation today when I happened to wander across this:
http://www.fairvote.org/...So by now everyone knows that Presidential candidates only care about certain states. If you live in Ohio people will come pouring out of the woodwork and all but kill for your vote, but if you live in, say, California Presidential candidates will all but ignore you. Now I knew this all conceptually, but its interesting to actually see the report (which includes info on candidate spending and candidate visits) and find out just how totally national politics are now dominated by a tiny handful of states. According to the report more than half of all efforts expended by the campaigns-- money spent, candidate visits, etc, went to just three states, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Florida alone saw more spending on TV ads than 45 states.
This is-- I don't know that I can really put it into words effectively. My mind merely strays over to crazy right wingers who automatically assume that America has the worlds best Democracy (because this is the best damned country on Earth-- isn't it?) and try to argue with a straight face that things like the Electoral College are good for America and that the 2000 election is actually the sort of outcome that the founding fathers anticipated and would have approved of. I wonder if they'd also be appalled if they saw this, or if they're too far down the rabbit hold for bad news to have any effect.
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