Quote:I'm sorry but you haven't really mentioned enough states to convince me that 'swing states' no longer exist, just that they are not as narrowly defined as previously.
I didn't say that swing states didn't exist or that they were not important. I said that they are no longer as important. You were indicating that they were the only thing that mattered much in American elections, and that is just not true. Leave aside the changes we saw in the most recent presidential elections, it would still be impossible for a Democrat to win without California or a Republican to win without Texas.
Quote:I didn't use the word satisfied, its too strong. I am afraid I really cannot comment on Presidential job approval ratings, no equivalent statistic gets media attention over here. .
Really? A quick search on Gordon Brown opinion polls on Google leads me straight to an article from the London Times.
Quote:Second, that the voters think that fixing the system of government is practically impossible because either they will be offered candidates like Kerry, who don't offer a real change or if they do elect a reformer he won't actually be able to achieve any actual reform in Washington. This is no so much apathy as a considered view that although politics and government are important actual voting has become ineffectual. Although I don't doubt that this would be be an accurate description of the thoughts of a few voters, I haven't seen any evidence that a large number of voters think that way, can you show me any.
From this statement, I can tell that you have not spent much time speaking with American's about their politicians. There is a large since that the American government has been bought and paid for by special interest groups who pay for the campaigns. Whether it is Halliburton or the Teachers Union, most people feel that our government is no longer "by the people, for the people, and of the people". Why do you think heavy restrictions on lobbyists were such a large component of President Obama's platform?
As far as your philosophy, you are correct. The people thought that the Bush administration was riddled with bad doctrines. That is why McCain, who largely held the same doctrines, was not elected. But, perhaps you are talking about extreme examples with your philosophy. It seems you are channeling Jeffersonian philosophy when you describe the people eradicating bad governments:
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."--The Declaration of Independance
Yet, many people think that the Bush administration was one of the worst if not THE worst in American history. But a tyrant of the American people, he was not. And that makes all the difference. Now, whether he was a tyrant to his guests at Guantanamo Bay is another question entirely.
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