George,

Gimme a break! Why the heck do you think lobbyists contribute to political candidates' campaigns? For their health? No, of course not. They want something in return for their money. And when they don't get what they contributed money to get, then of course they're not going to be happy.

The only way to completely clean up campaign financing is to get rid of lobbyists and greatly diminish the amount of political advertising in the media. I'm not even in the country and I can see polarisation and partisanship in the American press. I suppose I'll be bombarded by this visual and aural excrement when I go to the U.S. this summer.

And you wonder why voters are apathetic. It's like force-feeding someone potato chips and then expecting them to still like eating potato chips after you've stopped. Only in America can you be bombarded by so many messages telling you who to vote for, what to buy, why you shouldn't be happy with your life as it is--how you should live your life, essentially.

- Joseph Cheek (electronic mail, June 16, 2004)