"Most of the people I know (small city in Idaho) just vote straight Republican because they don't have the time/energy/interest to find out who they would want to vote for for the issues. Most just figure one or the other will be better for the general economy. Americans just aren't responsible enough to become a true democracy."
This is the problem with not only a "true democracy" but also with our representative system. Too few people think anymore.
<partisan>I know lots of people that are very liberal and think John Kerry is the answer to their prayers. The only objection that I've heard any of them make to Bush is that they think he's a moron. And they say it with great vehemence. These same people overlook the fact that Kerry changed his position on the war in Iraq twice in the course of a single debate. And when I point it out they act like it doesn't matter.</partisan>
No one takes enough of an interest in the affairs of the country to become informed. We're all too busy playing games, watching movies and TV, partying, working, etc...
It seems to be a given now that one must turn to experts to get an opinion and that which experts you choose indicates your political preference/leaning. Most people reading this post (spriggan excluded:))are at least as smart as any expert and can master enough of the subject material in any given area to be able to make intelligent judgements, but no one does.
Why the heck not?
*I tend to place a large measure of blame on TV. The idiot box is justly named. Why read even a basic book on economics if you can sit down, crack a beer, and live vicariously through naked sweating men in masks and speedos pretending to wrestle. Or watch "real" people eat cockroaches. Or whatever else is on nowadays. And (I know this is a knife in the eye to everyone here, myself included) most of the fiction we're reading as a nation is not much better than TV.