Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhomochevsky
How is this ever not the case in a two party system? The outcome is binary after all. 
And to get ahead of the obvious troll response: yes, I know there are more parties and independants, but really their only role in a presidential election is to steal votes from the two big parties. |
You see, Obama won 08 election because his platform appealed to more Americans than McCain's. He looked like a candidate who could steer US from the wrong course. He excited the younger and minority voters, both historically have low turnouts, to come out to support him. They didn't come out because they saw McCain as a horrible choice (though Sarah Palin would be a disaster).
Now we have Obama who looks weak. He no longer seems to stand for anything. The Congress during his term is the worst in living history, even though it's not entirely his fault. Personally I'd like to see a Democrat challenge him, but that is not going to happen.
On the other side Republicans candidates are almost all unelectable. Huntsman has dropped. Ron Paul is too radical to win. Romney never has more than 25% support but his nomination looks inevitable, mostly because he is the only one that can seriously challenge Obama. So unseating Obama becomes the primary objective, and whoever has the best chance to do so gets nominated. Romney's views (which changes with every passing season) are not important.