Ins and Outs in DC

The Parties in DC, the Ins and Outs
Thomas Jefferson to Governor John Langdon, March 5, 1810
As usual, Jefferson was able in few words to sum up the problems with entrenched political parties. In this case, you must substitute Congress for Parliament and special interests for aristocrats. The power structure in DC picks our winners and losers for us today in pseudo fascism form.

"The parliament is, by corruption, the mere instrument of the will of the administration. The real power and property in the government is in the great aristocratical families of the nation.
The nest of office being too small for all of them to cuddle into at once, the contest is eternal, which shall crowd the other out. For this purpose, they are divided into two parties, the Ins and the Outs, so equal in weight that a small matter turns the balance.
To keep themselves in, when they are in, every stratagem must be practised, every artifice used which may flatter the pride, the passions or power of the nation. Justice, honor, faith, must yield to the necessity of keeping themselves in place. The question whether a measure is moral, is never asked; but whether it will nourish the avarice of their merchants, or the piratical spirit of their navy, or produce any other effect which may strengthen them in their places. As to engagements, however positive, entered into by the predecessors of the Ins, why, they were their enemies; they did every thing which was wrong; and to reverse every thing they did, must, therefore, be right.
This is the true character of the English government in practice, however different its theory; and it presents the singular phenomenon of a nation, the individuals of which are as faithful to their private engagements and duties, as honorable, as worthy, as those of any nation on earth, and whose government is yet the most unprincipled at this day known."

Eugene McCarthy [D], named Clean Gene by his college student following, ran for President to end the war in Viet Nam. It was because of him and his popularity in the Democratic primaries that LBJ dropped decided not to run for reelection. McCarthy joined a law suit many decades later agains campaign reform legislation and he noted that the FEC had blocked dissidents such as himself from running. Independent donors of character could quietly back a dissident before the FEC. Somehow we assume making names public is the answer but its the parties that read the donors list.
There is an essay worth reading on this website: http://realcampaignreform.org/what_you_should_know.htm
The Internet may have changed things as Ron Paul zoomed to the forefront initially, but he was not media selected as a 'viable' candidate and even coming in second in the Nevada primary brought him zero recognition. Once the voting began, his name was never mentioned by the main stream media outlets. As one of the Justices said during the Real Campaign Reform court case, paraphrasing, if I want a specific candidate to win an office, I buy a cable outlet, like NBC, and I can say anything I want at any time during the election cycle?