Both candidates are pushing for substantial tax cuts. Each promises to quickly balance the budget. Neither proposes substantial gun-control measures. And while Mr. Dole has responded to the nation's illegal drug problem with a mouthful of slogans, Mr. Clinton has responded with a sermon lacking substance. Over and again, it appears that both men are speaking each other's lines.
Democracy demands that voters have substantive choices.
Instead, they each seek to attract the median voter, that hypothetical voter that sits in the middle of the electorate. To this end, the parties employ massive polling. Our political parties seem to believe that this is what Americans want. If that was the case, we would elect the best pollsters our tax dollars could buy and cut out middlemen like Mr. Clinton and Mr. Dole. Americans, however, do not want to be pandered to at every step in the game.