The Transition From Democracy to "Politics as Sport" Is Almost Complete in America

We're in a time where we have two very solid candidates (Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard) running in the Democratic Primary. They have the appeal of the (true) base, young Democrats, independent voters even some Republicans. The are running on concrete and popular policies. In other words, they have what overpaid pundits would call, "elect-ability."

Nevertheless, candidates like Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren are polling better than them in a number of polls. Why? One reason is because the establishment Democrats portray Sanders and Tulsi as outsiders despite Sanders running on a modern-day FDR platform and Gabbard being a Congresswoman in the Democratic Party.

Why the portrayal? Because neither Sanders nor Gabbard follow the establishment mantra. They challenge Democratic donors. They speak against the Military Industrial Complex.

They are not "team players."

Progressives advocate (to varying degrees) progressive candidates taking over the Democratic Party from within and initiating real substantive change. Unlike third-party advocates, this idea is born on the belief that the two-party system is so ingrained that a third party, even if popular, can't crack the electoral college. Perhaps.

So in this scenario, progressives run as Democrats in the Democratic Party machine, but the problem is that this machine (even on the state level) has been designed/retooled to reject candidates who do not follow the establishment mantra. You must accept some PAC money. You must embrace Identity Politics. You must talk vaguely and in platitudes.

You must be a "team player."

Democrats and Republicans are not true political parties; they are political teams that belong to the same sport. The sporting activities (debates, rallies, TV punditry) is what we watch like fans. Elections are basically us voting for All-Stars. The goal is to be entertained and emotionally-invested in seeing our team gain an advantage, but never do anything substantive with that advantage.

Purging votes/voters? That's the equivalent of a referee making a bad call that impacted the outcome of the game. And like some of those bad calls, by the time we realize the purging happened we're in no position to correct it. It's not like anyone's being punished for denying an American their vote.

Look for the signs. Listen for the phrases.

"Blue no matter who." "Stop with the purity tests." "A vote for third party is a vote for Trump."

These are not the words of someone who takes politics seriously (a "Blue no matter who" voter should be fine endorsing Gabbard or Sanders, for example). These are the words of a fan, and there are to many important issues to discuss and to many serious policies on the line to entertain fans.