Here's the thing - don't expect me to be enthused about someone who cozys up to a mass murderer.

[jobycom]

420. The problem with a democracy is that you only get two viable choices, no matter what.

And those two choices will be trying to appeal to the people in the middle, because those votes count twice--once for the candidate, once against the opponent. The edges only count once, because the far left and the far right either vote for the mainstream candidate, or they stay home or vote for a radical candidate (those last two are the same thing for the mainstream candidates). So, we get compromise candidates who work the middle, because they are the only ones who can win. There are always other candidates in the primaries, and even in the general, but people don't vote for them, even though people are always saying they want more candidates.

Parliamentary systems are probably a little better. You vote for your party, and they get into Parliament, and then they have to work out a compromise to see which of the two main parties will get to control things. At first, that turns out better, since each of the two mainstream parties has to pander to the fringes to get their support, which is the one time fringe voting helps. But, once the quorum is formed, they go back to the middle. So it's not much better. Basically, it's the same as our system, except we work out the finer points in the primaries, and they work them out after the election.

It's still all about the middle, because whichever candidate captures the middle gets over half the votes (picture a number line). Simple math.

So, democracy means you get a choice between two compromise candidates, as opposed to tyranny, where you get a choice between one uncompromising candidate and revolution--which either results in another uncompromising leader, or a democracy, which has two... you get the picture.

So, for me, I wind up voting for the most liberal option in the primary, and then voting for the winner--not usually the one I voted for--in the general. Sucks, but it sucks even worse when someone like Bush or Reagan wins. There really is a difference, and it's never more obvious than when the Republicans take over.