Putting some thoughts here, while they are on my mind:
Political parties and news organizations love to pretend that an election is an ideological mandate. When the candidate you vote for wins, it’s fun to feel that way.
I think an election is simpler, it’s a snapshot in time, and it’s very much about who is on the ballot. Sometimes a vote is yes to a candidate, to a party or to a platform, but sometimes a vote is against a specific person. I suspect that the 2016 and 2020 elections reflect this in America more than Americans traditionally would admit.
I think the political parties are their own machines, representing their own self-preservation and the agendas of large donors. As such, neither party in the U.S.A. would ever change anything fundamentally.
I don’t think that political parties represent a mandate any more than an election does.
I think political parties aren’t representative of us, of We The People, because the parties generally and the candidates specifically are beholden to money.
I think Ranked Choice Voting is worth a try and might better represent overall preferences, or show where more of us actually agree. We really need to pay attention to what we have in common and fight hard for that.
I think it’s really hard to step outside of a bubble I have willingly been inside of for decades.
I used to wonder why George Carlin seemed so angry toward the end of his career. I’m starting to understand.