02-16-2012, 05:20 PM
Dennis S wrote:
I don't think it was the smoke-filled rooms that produced the better candidates. I think it was probably a better process, but the problem is, there are fewer good candidates now. Maybe it's because we're older and wiser, but Santorum compared to Ike? Come on.
In all seriousness, the two parties were more in the center. And they tried to find candidates who represented the party's platform (remember those? Party platforms?) and who had a serious chance of a) winning and b) being able to perform the duties of the office.
I doubt that voters today have a clue what their party's platform is, let alone how it is determined. They get mad, they go to the polls, and they vote for whoever it is they think represents their anger the best.
Very few people even understand the two-party system these days, or how it used to work before the parties decided to let chaos reign in the guise of The Voice of the People.