Indeed Fay, even without intimidation the system is rigged to make it possible to win the presidency with far less than the popular majority. And yes the Dems are too nice, but they have also been duped by their own leaders. Dems pander to plutocrats and neofeudalists nearly as much as the Reps. Clinton and Obama pushed the b(w)ankers uber alles mentality and the techno-rentier upon us all. If the GOP did not suddenly show it true colors as the Gestapo Operatives Party, then we would still be as Gore Vidal once said a "One party system with two wings". The ancients Greeks, who coined the terms, thought oligarchy was the best form of government (with odds favoring a few good men to offset the bad). Democracy to them was mob rule bordering on anarchy. Lucky for us there are a few semi-good oligarchs and one very bad monarch to choose from this time around, and we still have enough democracy to give us the choice.