It doesn't matter who wins the White House tomorrow...

Would you like to know why it doesn't really matter who wins the White House tomorrow?  I will give you a list:

1. Gitmo is still open, and will likely remain open regardless of who wins.
2. Torture is still used in interrogations.*
3. Warrantless wiretapping still goes on.*
4. There is still wholesale assassination using automated drones.
5. We still abduct and torture foreign nationals.
6. We bribe the leaders of other countries for our economic gain.
7. We invade other countries (Libya, Pakistan, more than likely Syria soon) without the consent of Congress and then call it something other than war.
8. Both men support Bush's tax cuts for the rich (even if Obama claims he does not).
9. Both will let the Fed continually print money based on nothing, further devaluing the dollar.
10. Abortion.  Seriously, neither is going to do anything.  It is just a political talking point.
11. We have more people incarcerated than China.

You want to know what the difference is between Obama and Romney?  Who they will choose for the Supreme Court.  I suggest you make your choice based on that, or you vote third party.  As for me, I am voting third party.

*Yes, Obama knows this is ongoing, and yes, he could stop both of these if he chose.

Is this poll's results really all that surprising?

Poll: Party platforms a mystery to many by Jennifer Agiesta for the Associated Press

Perhaps the confusion that so many Americans have about which political party stands for which cause is the fact that in action, as opposed to word, members of both parties act the same in office.  I am not referring to the times when members of government from opposing sides have found common ground, like the Safe Haven law.  I mean the tendency of politicians to say what the constituents want to hear, and then get into office and do whatever is best for themselves.

"Platforms" are more what the parties wish the public to believe-- platforms are just words.  This has been true of American politics for quite some time.  If one is to judge the politicians off what they actually do, the lines between the parties are so blurred as to be indistinguishable.

Who really chooses the Republican nominee?

People usually blame the news media for picking the party candidates, especially since one candidate emerges as the candidate before all the states have voted in the primaries.  I, however, think that it may be our culture that is to blame.  How many are saying that if Mitt Romney wins the South Carolina nomination, the Republican party should rally behind him, making him the Republican candidate when South Carolina is only third out of 50 states to have their primary election? 

The very fact that all of the states have their primaries at different times seems to encourage this crowning of a winner before most members of the party (and in some states, most voters regardless of party) have even gone to the polls.  It would make so much more sense to hold the primaries all at once, but there is no question of changing to that.  The only changes in when state primaries are held are changes that attempt to place a state's primary ahead of the others.

It is not as though the news media is not contributing to this mess.  How many small budget Republican candidates are being completely ignored, like Buddy Roemer?  Ron Paul came in third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire, yet he is still barely mentioned.  When he is, it is almost in passing, and as though his only supporters are some far out extremists-- yes, because there are enough extremists in three states to get him third and second place.  When he is focused on, it is usually with derision.  Mitt Romney is cast as a "moderate," a title I am not all that sure he deserves.  He is also cast as the candidate best suited to beat Obama in the general election.

This is the key.  The candidate best suited to beat the other party's candidate is the one the party wants.  It doesn't matter if the candidate is the best for the job, or will do what is right for the country, or will stick to his principles unless compromise is what is best for the country.  What matters is if he can beat the other side's guy.

So if Mitt Romney becomes the Republican candidate after only three primaries, before you get to vote, don't blame the media, even though they played their part.  Blame the Republican party, who just like the Democrats, don't care what you think.  They only care if they can win.