Congress, Incumbency and our Electoral System

For all the deep unhappiness that polls show with Congress, Mr. Bush, his party and the Iraq war, only about 10 percent of House races could be considered even remotely competitive. That figure stands as a reminder of the enduring power of incumbency, and of how a dominant party can protect itself by drawing Congressional districts that serve as bulwarks during stormy seasons. There are 34 incumbent House members and one senator running for re-election unopposed. – The New York Times

Could it be: More money in politics
- 1976 Campaign Funding: $171 Million
- 2000 Campaign Funding: $528 Million

More than likely, the parties themselves are inherently corrupt and corrupting. And the American people suffer.

"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.