Do you think we the people chose the presidential candidates we keep having? There are multiple levels of representation, and all of them are tainted by special

Do you think we the people chose the presidential candidates we keep having? There are multiple levels of representation, and all of them are tainted by special interests and partisanship. The primary system can choose candidates however they wish -- the Constitution does not specify the method [1]. A Democratic challenger to Biden this time was blatantly refused ballot access in many states. Backroom deals can cause good candidates to drop out and support worse candidates (see Buttigieg dropping out in 2020 and supporting Biden, and then Biden appoints him SecTrans). Kamala Harris was among the worst performers in the 2020 Democratic primary, but for some reason she was chosen (not elected, mind you, but chosen by Biden's team) as Biden's running mate, so now the Democrats have no good choices. The Electoral College is winner-take-all in many places and the congressional districts are often gerrymandered to completely eliminate representation of the minority party. For example, Nashville had a Democrat representative, but after redistricting the city was split like a pizza among three mostly rural GOP districts to completely eliminate its member of Congress [2]. It is the capital of the state and largest city but has no member of Congress now. I'm glad you have such a positive view of US democracy, but many of us living here are extremely worried about our trajectory. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_primary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_pri... 2. https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2022-11-04/nashville-how-tennessees-blue-island-was-lost-in-a-sea-of-red https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2022-11-04/na...