Your most important vote is in the primaries (especially in areas dominated by a single party), and I think the country as a whole is beginning to realize it.
I used to agree, but the parties have no ideology attached to them. Their names are just generic terms regarding democracy and you can see how much their platforms have changed and moved over the last century. At this point they are just the Urban and Rural divisions of our election playoff.
They are just the ideology of the people elected. If you change the candidates of the party, you have changed the ideology of the party. Trump figured this out and instead of sticking with the Reform party, he just took over the Republican nomination.
That statement is simply incorrect. Both parties have a clear ideology that ebbs and flows for the sake of remaining in power
> If you change the candidates of the party, you have changed the ideology of the party.
That is also incorrect. The 2 parties may slightly adjust their ideology for the sake of power but the core of their ideology remains the same.
The reason that the parties have influence over the ballot is because they like it that way.
Not ideal but much better than what has been going on since the 2000s.
Maybe in the Reagan years, but it's become more difficult since then. Orwell said "The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians." Both Republicans and Democrats have grown increasingly more authoritarian over the past 20 years.
In the current system the question is who can be the most conservative/liberal. There is little downside to pushing further because there are more votes there but few people you’ll drive away.
Your change to gerrymandering doesn't make pushing for the extremes a worse strategy. Even in a perfectly split district, roughly 25% vote Democrat, 25% Republican, and 50% don't vote. That 50% is a better target than any voters on the fence.