PA state senate: Oz vs. Fetterman

[temporal1]

Oz is a pretty bad candidate and in general, his and Mastriano's candidacies speak poorly of Pennsylvania Republicans.
Fetterman's continued candidacy though speaks even worse of Pennsylvania Democrats.

Do you think this kind of thing actually indicates the limits of centralized control in party politics? I mean, anybody can run, and unless there is some really good alternative, or some kind of herculean effort on the part of party leadership, basically anybody can rise to the top?

Larry Elder just lost his run for CA governor. i think he would have been great!
He described how he received questions about his experience?! - He described his great related education+experience, then quipped,
“o.well. i should have been a bartender.”

However. The situation with our CLAIMED 2-party politics has seriously eroded over decades. It’s for show.
Trump threw a wrench in it, but, up until then, CAREER politicians, claiming to be 2 parties “for the people” - had pretty well morphed into being 1 party “of career politicians, for career politicians.” It was really evident in the W years. It was great to see Paul Ryan go.

Over time, Congress, WITH NO TERM LIMITS, has crafted a system in which THEY never lose, THEY never pay, THEY are never held accountable.

It’s a form of dictatorship, but, instead of the convenience of naming 1 designated villain, they are many, acting as 1.
Dispersing the scent throws off the hounds.

Thus, going back to mike’s observation, does it matter “who?” Does competence matter? No. Currently, biden proves “No.”
Call it the swamp, call it a cabal ..

mike:
If politicians are basically just going to follow what the party bosses dictate, does it really matter whether they sharp as a tack?

The founders warned. They knew. Because incompetence+corruption are nothing new.
They hoped “we” would surprise history and do better.

[Bootstrap]

And I think it's related to the way our news is reported in broadcast media and online - these days, many broadcast channels treat politics as a WWF match with colorful personalities trying to defeat each other, not as a way of figuring out how to govern the country.

This forum reminds me of a WWF match some days

Well, we reflect the culture around us. And politicians do this because it engages the general public. It helps them raise money and get out the vote.

But it's not good for governing.

[HondurasKeiser]

At the very least all of us seem to be on the same page in this thread…which, for being a political thread, is really nice.

[HondurasKeiser]

I may have misspoken in terms of my prediction for the Senate race: the latest poll has Oz up by 2.

[ohio jones]

At the very least all of us seem to be on the same page in this thread…which, for being a political thread, is really nice.

Actually we are all on three pages, so far, which is about as good as it gets.

[barnhart]

We seem to be in an age where the democratic system has crystalized and no longer produces candidates that a majority really wants. Reasonable and moderate candidates are cast aside in favor of the confrontational, extreme or otherwise questionable.

[Sliceitup]

We seem to be in an age where the democratic system has crystalized and no longer produces candidates that a majority really wants. Reasonable and moderate candidates are cast aside in favor of the confrontational, extreme or otherwise questionable.

I understand the appeal of closed primaries, but they have definitely contributed to this problem.

[Josh]

We seem to be in an age where the democratic system has crystalized and no longer produces candidates that a majority really wants. Reasonable and moderate candidates are cast aside in favor of the confrontational, extreme or otherwise questionable.

I understand the appeal of closed primaries, but they have definitely contributed to this problem.

#1. Primaries are not closed in most states. You can pick whatever party affiliation you want when you go to vote in a primary.

#2. California has non-partisan primaries, yet California politics is generally even more dysfunctional than elsewhere. People are moving out of California because the living conditions there are so bad.

[barnhart]

We seem to be in an age where the democratic system has crystalized and no longer produces candidates that a majority really wants. Reasonable and moderate candidates are cast aside in favor of the confrontational, extreme or otherwise questionable.

I understand the appeal of closed primaries, but they have definitely contributed to this problem.

New York is experimenting with rank choice voting, it will be interesting to see how that works out.

[HondurasKeiser]

We seem to be in an age where the democratic system has crystalized and no longer produces candidates that a majority really wants. Reasonable and moderate candidates are cast aside in favor of the confrontational, extreme or otherwise questionable.

I understand the appeal of closed primaries, but they have definitely contributed to this problem.

Primaries in general might be part of the problem…more democracy doesn’t necessarily equal better candidates. That is how we ended up with Trump as candidate twice in a row…and probably again in ‘24.