As long as I am ranting, I figured I would hit on Incumbents. I don't mean the ILEC's, although most of them don't care a wit about their customers. I'm talking about career politicians. We breed them in the US like a rare dog. 

Think about this: Why would someone spend \$24 million to be governor? Rick Scott is using his own money to win the race in Florida. Where did Scott get that money? From founding and running HCA. WHo is HCA? The holder of the largest fine ever in Medicare fraud. Why would he spend so many of his own millions for a job that pays \$133,000? 

Why raise and spend over \$40M for a primary run for US Senator? Well, because if you win there is a very likely chance you will die in that office. (See Jessie Helms and Robert Byrd). A stat I saw said that there is only a 2% churn in Congress. Telcos wish for that kind of churn.

One reason you need all that money is so that you can bury your critics, shout down your opponents, and craft a story about how you are not a fraud or a quitter or a flip-flopper. 

There's no truth. There's only talking points. The media is either lazy or overworked (or both). So they take talking points for content. Hence, why we get the same buzz answer for everything in this country.

Social media helps to disseminate some information - like about the oil spill (and here). But a majority of people not only don't pay attention to government (which is a huge problem). 125M voted in the 2008 Presidential election. It sounds like a record to me. (121M in 2004.)  

The other issue is status quo. People say they want change, but really they fear it. That's why political marketing is all about FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). 

I say never vote for the incumbent. One term in office is plenty. Let them go get a job!