Outrage has erupted over the presidential debate fiasco, but only a 26 year old, Shawn Berhel, has pointed a finger in the right direction, blaming the Country’s two- party system which “divides us”.
Although more than 40% of the electorate do not identify as Democrats or Republicans (a percentage greater than the number of either Ds or Rs) and all taxpayers must pay for the Primary elections, these voices are deliberately silenced through the cooperation of the two parties to exclude them from voting in the Primary, which determines who the candidates will be in the General Election. Candidates not identified as Ds or Rs must obtain a greater number of signatures to get on the ballot. Voters going to vote in the Primary elections are handed a “ballot” by a Party member listing the names of the candidates preferred by the Party. When there are multiple candidates vying for an office there is no rank-ordering of preference, so that a third candidate is considered a “spoiler” and usually results in the election of the party-backed candidate who often benefits from “street money”.
Thus we are divided into two political camps, unable to debate the issues so critical to our democracy.