We seem to have forgotten that one of the strengths of our political system is the orderly transition of power. One only has to look at the world to see that this is more the exception than the rule. In other places, some gain power and hold it by any means possible. This being said, we do not help the election process by not having uniform ballots and allowing people to register on election day. One of the other strengths of our system is an informed electorate that is registered and ready to vote on the day of the election.
Pictures are worse than sound bites with respect to offering the mind a path of least resistance.
A republic means an elected group of individuals, and those appointed by our elected representatives are granted the responsibility of governing the electorate. All too often, particularly of late, those empowered few and their cohorts, who find it easy to tell us what to think to keep themselves contemporary, try to reverse the process. I realize this knife cuts with each edge. In the final assessment, I am not sure unbridled capitalism, in the guise of democracy, can work except to give the empowered few more fodder to keep us confused and disenchanted with the process. Sure as we all are about how right or wronged our candidates may be, we await the critical moment in this campaign when the next president will be formally elected, unaware that certain critical moments have already occurred.