When I was a child courses in American History included several units on the history and construction of the Constitution and on the governance structure of the nation. Politics and political structure were barely mentioned. Today I looked at a textbook in which political structure and opweration overshadowed the organization and operation of our government.
Political organizations rule the roost. Candidates are chosen mostly as a result of technical evaluations from paid consultants, not by what they stand for. They get a political label. Media reports focus as often on their political affiliations as they do on the stated positions of the elected officials.
And we voters have largely bowed to those patterns. We have stopped choosing candidates on the basis of what they stand for (or say they do) and instead we look at their endorsement labels from a political party. In many place you can’t have your name as a candidate on an official ballot without meeting certain political party status. Party status has become more important than position on issues.
For a majority of voters, it appears to be more important what political labels you wear, than what you say you stand for. And will work for.
The real question that becomes so very important in the coming presidential election is not which political party will win the White House, but whether democracy will suffer another possibly seminal blow to its future. Presidents do not have the power of CEOs, but the Congress of these United States do carry that power and that responsibility.
