Reply #37: "The people don't get to choose liberals because our Rightwing Corporations will not fund Liberals."

[BzaDem]

Bullshit!

The people can vote for candidates that rightwing corporations will not fund. That's why we have a primary election. They just go into the voting booth and do it. Done. If uninformed people choose to be swayed by ads, go into the voting booth, and vote for a conservative (or a center-left Democrat in a primary election, as opposed to a left Democrat), that is their CHOICE. That does NOT make them liberal, and it does NOT mean you can just call them liberal. Kucinich did not win the Democratic primary precisely because 99% of the party voluntarily went into the voting booth and chose not to vote for him.

"Until we the people decide we have had enough."

Bingo! When the people decide to elect candidates that corporations do not fund, they will by definition have "had enough" and we will get liberal candidates. The very purpose of a democracy is to allow the people to vote for whatever candidate they want to vote for.

But you cannot plausibly claim that we live in a liberal-majority country UNTIL THAT HAPPENS. Many, many people vote for conservatives (and conservative Democrats) in primaries. That is a voluntary action. No corporation is forcing them to do that. We do not live in a country where thugs force you to vote for the candidate they want. People consume the information they choose to consume, and then vote out of their own free will.

Would it be nice to curtail the influence of corporations? Of course it would! I think it is one of the most important issues today. But there is a HUGE difference between wanting to curtail the influence of corporations, and saying that we don't live in a democracy (where people are responsible for their OWN votes, that they made by their OWN free will) because corporations can run TV ads.