Money!

I've said before money in politics is starting to look like not quite the problem we originally thought it was, at least at the presidential scale, it seems that after a certain point, which is still a shit ton of cash mind you, there is a level of diminishing returns, and indeed too much money can actually cause a perception problem with a candidate, and for good reason, the rich are totally not like you and I and do not have the same priorities, at all. Down ticket races are another matter entirely of course, once you get to the level of mayoral candidates of decently sized cities and up, the impact of a couple million dollars here and there can really be felt, but there is another... benefit? To the super rich being involved with politics, and Donald Trump is leading the way.

America has a crapload of billionaires, this is of course at the cost of the vast majority of the rest of us and most of them will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes, but for the time being there is an interesting advantage in that a self funded egomaniac can make a credible run at the presidency, even without much support, and indeed with opposition from the major parties. This ties in a bit with what I was talking about last night, someone who isn't beholden to the party for financial support is much more likely to be able to talk honestly about the problems with that party, even while seeking their nomination. We see that with Donald Trump, and also coming from the grassroots with Bernie Sanders, both have found a way to get support without selling their souls to the political parties, one could argue that Trump at least has no soul to sell, and that Bernie Sanders' support being from the grassroots of the country means someone else duplicating his method probably can't be in a position to do much harm, and you might be right on both counts, but that isn't really the point at the moment.

We are seeing signs that the two party system is fracturing, ideas are being discussed on the national stage that hurt traditional party donors like investment firms and major corporations, the Republican party is fragmenting on it's own as well, with the Tea Party faction growing increasingly insane, but the idea that one person can drive a national discussion has to be terrifying to those like Reince Priebus and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. On the whole I am for anything that breaks up the stagnation of national politics, although I realize that two parties, plus whatever insane billionaire decides to run, is probably not a much better option, and that impact money has on down ticket elections comes in too, right now the rich buy congressmen, but more and more I think the idea is coming that they could skip the middle man and just be congressmen themselves, and guarantee a return on their investments.

I guess what I am saying is that while what we are seeing now may be a sign of progress of a sort, and a symptom that entrenched political structures are changing, we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking it is good thing really, or even anything more than a symptom of change, hopefully this part changes fast enough that people like Donald Trump can't do too much harm, but that sort of depends on the establishment, can one or both parties find a way to regain the trust and interest of their constituents? To do so they will need to make fundamental changes in how issues are discussed at the  national level, as well as adding more populist elements to their platforms. Can a credible third party rise to prominence that can do those things? The one that figures it out first will be the one with most of the power for the next couple decades if they manage it.