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Cetun t1_iyadsei wrote

Reply to comment by hoffmad08 in TIL that in 1979, a charity special episode of the academic student quiz show "It's Academic" was held between a team of three Democratic U.S. Senators, three Republican U.S. Senators, and three members of the press. The special was handily won by the press team. by FranklinDRoosevelt32

If you think for a second we live in a democracy you're kidding yourself. Our candidates go through several layers of screens before they even get on the primary ballot, and the primary ballot winner is usually the one who can gain the most support from very rich people. And all this is after they had already shook hands with and payed tribute to a very select few of the donor class in order to get on the primary ballot itself. Who we are voting for in the elections are a group of preselected representatives that we are allowed to choose from. They operate firstly with the consent of the very rich and powerful and then they are ordained by the people through elections.

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enemy_of_your_enema t1_iybkd01 wrote

Who is stopping you from joining your local party committee and helping to nominate candidates? For local office, you'd have a lot of say in who gets endorsed by the party. I know it's a different story for higher office, but a lot of elected officials in those higher offices get their start at the local level.

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Bad_Mood_Larry t1_iybrtb0 wrote

Because they don't actually know how political parties work and neither do they want to work in politics if it beyond doomerism about how nothing matters on social media.

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Cetun t1_iyckext wrote

My county is a deep red county, my state is now solidly red also. I could join a Republican committee but I would be outnumbered by the developers and real estate agents who want to lower school taxes and get rid of environmental compliance. I'm really going to compete against the guy that is already on the board of the chamber of commerce with half the people in my local committee? Get real.

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BarelyEvolved t1_iyaf4us wrote

Thats really only true in places the major parties think they win.

I had a friend who ran against a republican in a red area and participated in debates and was in papers, and the entire campaign was run pretty much without donations.

I also have been to county committee meeting for republicans and democrats, I swear its the same old people on both comitees arguing about money.

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estofaulty t1_iyb27th wrote

All you’re saying is that some random Joe Schmo can’t run for a particular party. That’s the parties’ prerogative. Joe Schmo can still run if they want. Next you’re going to say, “But Joe will lose. More people will vote for the parties.” And it’s like, that’s how voting works.

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Cetun t1_iycjh9k wrote

You're describing an oligarchy, not a democracy.

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arkstfan t1_iye79lk wrote

The only screen to getting on primary ballot in general is pay the fee.

But yeah ability to raise money is a major factor

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