Quote Originally Posted by thebigspendur View Post
Here in the U.S historically primaries were really forgotten about however now special interest groups have discovered them and with the realization general interest is low and voter turnout is even lower these group can literally seize control of the process and control who makes it to the election. It's one of the reasons veteran politicians fear these groups and pander to them.
Yes. Remember that Obama garnered a lot of support by making vows of "transparency" and "changing the way Washington works" with respect to lobbyists and such. Snore.

I'm not knocking Obama personally for this failure (though I have my issues with him), I'm just saying that even the best intentions seem to hit the Washington machine like water off a boulder. There's an awful lot of inertia in the way things are done now, and despite the fact that the American people think it sucks, once these guys get "in" they seem to develop a strange case of amnesia in the face of dollar signs.