Neither of the two major political parties active today (Democrats and Republicans) truly represents the “average” United States citizen any more. At one time the Democrats represented the working class, and the Republicans represented the business class, but over the past 40 years the Democrats have shifted further to the left, and the Republicans have shifted further to the right — both to appease to their major financial donors and to back extreme legislation that has contributed to the socioeconomic crises we are facing presently.
The Democratic Party claims to represent “social equality and equal opportunity,” while the Republican Party claims representation of “policies that uphold traditional conservative values” (Wikipedia).
Now the two parties represent only small parts of polar opposites, mainly representing their major corporate and individual donors, but not their voting base. Billionaires favor Republicans, led by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, with about 70% of all donations going to the Republican Party, thanks to the 2010 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) to allow unlimited donations on behalf of wealthy individuals and corporations.
The Democratic Party’s donors were led by Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Michael Bloomberg — financial titans who have been long-term supporters of the Democrats, with the exception of Bloomberg, who served as the Republican mayor of New York City from 2001 to 2013. The 2010 Supreme Court decision overturned century-old campaign finance rules and opened the floodgates to political spending from billionaire-backed super PACs that enabled Donald Trump and the Republicans to take control of both the executive and legislative branches.
The third branch — judicial — was already under effective Republican control with six of the nine justices currently serving appointed by Republican presidents.
Both parties need to return to their roots and find common ground in reducing the outsized role money currently plays in our elections and return control of the parties back to their dedicated constituents.
Daniel Herbert-Voss, White City
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