Hey! This seems illogical and unfair to me and it's tiresome. If we are really so convinced that the US political system and candidates are so useless/bad/dumbed down as we say, then why are we surprised? I think we would all agree, given the current climate surrounding candidates and in-office public figures, that we can't expect good people to be interested. As kat intimated, no one in their right minds would currently run for high office.

Maybe the solution is a STRIKE- a strike against the system; no voting until the campaign season is shortened dramatically- the only reason it's so long is because it used to take months to travel around the country-, until a cap is put on the amount that can be spent on a campaign, until the press backs off on the hounding of those in office and the wannabe's, (Come on, do we really believe that all was well in the oval office until during the last couple of administrations? Power, as they say, is an aphrodisiac, and there will always be those who take what they're being offered.) and until the National Enquirer gobble-uppers are starved out. We'll take to the streets, storm Washington, picket the press and spread the word: Don't Vote! We'll come up with a catchy slogan; the year 2000 will be known as the year it began to change...

Unless we do something of the sort, we haven't much reason to complain. IMO.

Ebbie

Ebbie