> According to the American National Election Survey, about 75% of
> voters in 2004 saw a clear difference between the two parties, and
> about 80% cared who won - both the highest levels since the question
> was first asked after the election of 1952. See Jeffrey Stonecash's
> paper on income inequality and voting <http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/
> PSJuly06Stonecash.pdf>. Most radicals who take the not a dime's worth
> of difference line seem to think they're speaking for the masses, but
> evidently the masses don't agree. So how to reconcile?
There are plenty of polls and surveys that have found significant numbers of people who abstain from voting because they see the system as bogus.
Sure, there are many Americans who have been indoctrinated into thinking that there are significant difference between the two parties. Partisans on both sides have developed an industry of demonizing the other side. See Rush Limbaugh et. al.
What annoys me, and what has me considering leaving this list permanently, is that smart people on this list argue that there is a difference between these two parties. Superficial differences, I'll grant that. But fundamental differences? The Democrats are the part of anti-capitalism? I don't think so.
Chuck