How I learned to like the "Fun Run" [View All]

Okay, last night I'll confess it hit me as crass - a fundraising game to determine the winning candidate, in which votes are distributed on a dollar-for-votes principle. A little bit too realistic! Except that in the alternate reality of DU the most money will go into crowning Kucinich (or else Edwards as the candidate of "Anyone But Kucinich"). But with the various dirty tricks thrown in, it's turned into a pretty good parody of the real thing. I knew the trick putting any candidate no matter how far behind into first place would be played on behalf of Clinton, since I would have done that myself for the pleasure of watching her voted down into the negatives again.

Now if only I still had a credit card...

Meanwhile, out in the real world, this is how the election is being decided - on the basis of who can raise cash, with those giving more cash getting more consideration (as under the revised rules of the "Fun Run"), and otherwise with a few subterfuges thrown in by a tiny number so privileged.

How can we expect this to change, when the winner thus produced will have no incentive to change the system that got them there in the first place?

And is there a secret "Gore announces" trick?