Who will choose our 2016 nominee?

[Laelth]

69. Thanks for the kind words and for the response.

I recall being outrageously excited in 2008 when Barack Obama received campaign donations from over 2 million individual donors. I speculated, at the time, that the internet had the capacity to restore democracy to the people by giving us the opportunity to, quite literally, buy politicians like our oligarchs have always done. I thought (as did many others) that We, the People had finally purchased a President. Turns out this prediction was wrong and that keeping Wall Street happy remains the primary concern of the leaders of both our major political parties.

As for individual politicians, in this political climate I want to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone who runs for office with a (D) after their name. Selecting that (D) means weak party support, media hostility, and less campaign cash than one would get if one selected the (R) instead. What cynic would make that choice? I think the cynics are more likely to choose the (R) because that is the easy path to money and power. The (D) path is much more treacherous these days. For this reason, I think most of our politicians are good, reasonable people who, once they understand the system, have to make some very hard choices, and many of those choices are contrary to the best interests of the people. The money that drives the system makes this so.

I think, as you speculate, that there are national policies that Presidents are reticent to change, but only out of fear of reprisal from huge, powerful, and wealthy interests in this country that have the power to destroy a President and his administration. Look at how the health insurance/hospital/pharmaceutical interests crushed Clinton for merely suggesting reform of their profitable (but evil) practices. Just imagine a President who messed with big oil. Big oil could easily crush that administration by jacking up the price of gas (which, by the way, is how most people gauge the health of the nation). There are some interests that it is simply unwise to fight. Presidents who do so jeopardize everything else that they want to accomplish while in office.

So, it's very complicated, but thanks for the response and for this interesting discussion.

-Laelth