So here is my answer: My distaste for politicians in general is real. I have known many but only like a few. Perhaps it is my proximity to Washington DC. I live halfway between Baltimore and Washington and grew up with DC television, which invariably included regular doses of politicians seeking air time.
The things you could count on with these politicians was not speaking until the polls were properly understood, then outrage or total support (depending on the poll results), and very little substance.
What we could count on from the media was giving these people air time. Thanks ever so much...
The first edition of The 2010 Unofficial Voter's Guide came out when the political and economic climate was boiling. The Wall Street bailout was well under way, although started by the previous president; there was a backlash to the national health reform program: the Tea Party was exerting enormous influence; and more.
When I originally decided to write the first version, there were several reasons.
Second, the horrific political and economic conditions mentioned above.
Third, the "silent majority" first cited by President Nixon in November 1969, when he asked for the support of the "silent majority of Americans" - well the silent majority was getting riled up and they were not so silent.
This "silent majority" in a way is very real- people who don't vote who make up 50% of the eligible voting public.
That now not so silent majority has risen up against the "establishment" in both parties, choosing to support candidates well outside of the mainstream, which threatens the current power structure like nothing else in recent memory.
Six months anyone saying Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders would be leading contenders for party nominations would have been institutionalized. Bernie and Donald have tapped into the silent majority.
The 2016 Unofficial Voter's Guide: Everything Politicians Know About What You Want in a roundabout way predicted this scenario. By tapping into the alienation of many Americans, the feeling that they have been totally left out of the decision making process, Sanders, Trump and Cruz have struck a real nerve that is terrifying for those who really run both parties because it is a big unknown, an unknown that they cannot control.
When you piss enough people off by your arrogance, they will turn on you.
Iowa and New Hampshire are gong to be very interesting...
***
The 2016 Unofficial Voter's Guide is available at
http://www.amazon.com/The-2016-Unofficial-Voters-Guide/dp/1600052649
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-2016-unofficial-voters-guide-mark-amtower/1123011839?ean=9781600052651
http://www.happyabout.com/unofficial-voters-guide.php
