Politics is about the present. What is good for tomorrow or what should be remembered from the past is not considered. History for most Americans begins at the date of their last suffering. Citizens who have not suffered, have no grasp of history at all. For all but a few, Mid East History begins on September 11, 2001. For Republicans, financial history begins the day Obama took office. For Democrats, history begins when George Bush Jr. took office.
For a very few others of history starts with artifacts and ancient writings and extends to the present. I am not surprise that very few remember the financial crisis of 2008 or place any importance on it. In the fall of 2008, I discovered that the democratic principles on which the United States was founded were being discarded. The TARP bill was not popular. The public was against it something like 100 to 1. The bill passed over the loud objections of constituents across the country. The consent of the governed was not required. The appearance was that democracy had died. It had died and it is still dead.
Today everything possible is done to make sure the president is chosen by the elite instead of by the will of the people. The media manages public opinion as much as possible. Large campaign donors insist that they pick the candidates and that voters choose among the selection the elite offer them. The most important aspect of the 2016 election is actually not who ends up getting elected. More important, is the degree the will of voters is usurped.
By the time the election is over, our whole style of government may be a thing of the past. Voters not only lack the power to control government, they lack the will to do so. Both parties have spent countless hours circumventing the democratic process.
When a president is elected, that person begins serving only those who helped get him elected. The population is fairly used to that outcome. The loss of democracy and any chance at self government is a far more serious issue than who becomes president for a maximum of eight years.