Politicians pick their voters
It's been said many times that in the computer precise gerrymandering era, voters don't pick their politicians, politicians pick their voters. Oh, so true.
As exhibit A let me offer two bits from this NYTimes article on the upcoming midterms.
"In the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, just 29 percent said the country was headed in the right direction...." and
"only about 40 House races are seriously competitive"
70% feel that America is on the wrong track, and less than 10% of Congress is even at risk of being voted out. The system is broken.
As exhibit A let me offer two bits from this NYTimes article on the upcoming midterms.
"In the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, just 29 percent said the country was headed in the right direction...." and
"only about 40 House races are seriously competitive"
70% feel that America is on the wrong track, and less than 10% of Congress is even at risk of being voted out. The system is broken.
posted by mikevotes at
7:31 AM
3 Comments:
The system is broken.
No question. The problem is getting moderation-worshipping America to do something about it.
By
abi, at 9:28 AM
Well said. Most voters don't know this. The system is also broken because of the money it takes to campaign.
By
janinsanfran, at 12:13 PM
Abi, I think the only real answer is the Iowa(?) solution where they have a bipartisan commission do the districts.
Problem is, the politicians don't want this, either do the big donors, because the current system works for them.
So it has to be a grass roots movement state by state which is hard to do without sponsorship or money.
Jan, The money is the root problem of all this. It depends on where you are, but in a big media market like Houston it is extremely expensive to campaign because you have to buy TV ads citywide to reach just your district. San Francisco/Oakland is probably the same way.
On top of that, the system is currently working for everyone but the voter. The politicians are getting theirs, business/donors are getting theirs.
And as I often say, there are no lobbyists for the people.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 3:27 PM
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