Elections

Let's face it: political discourse in the U.S. isn't very pretty. It's generally a matter of two large parties -- each backed by an army of fundraisers, copywriters, and statisticians -- shouting at each other in front of sympathetic audiences. Over the past couple of decades, the situation seems to have gotten worse, though that's probably because we've entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and pundits have to speak shrilly to get heard. As a result of the country's increasingly partisan atmosphere, most Americans have taken sides. It's very rare to find true "independent" voters these...