Well said

HUD:

We're being given the illusion of choice when really it's all the same crap tied up in different coloured bows. Yes, that's how I think about American politics and increasingly Canadian politics too. We've got 2 big box parties in Canada that are now so similar, one of them is terrified to make their "policies" public for fear the other party will steal all their ideas. Gee, did it never occur to anyone that they might have to come up with something the other guys can't steal. Something new. Something daring. Something people really need and want. No, that would be too risky. People might not like something new. You'd have to work really hard to sell it and convince people it's worth having. If you just put out the same old stuff that's already selling, you know people will buy it (or at least you're pretty sure they will) and you don't have to explain why it's better so it's safer and easier to just make the same lame crap as everyone else. Just roll out a huge ad campaign and put a shinier bow on your stuff and hope people are drawn to the shiny keys.

Of course, I'd think HUD's ultimate conclusion misses part of the point: in politics as in shopping, the problem isn't so much a lack of other choices as an all-too-easily accepted assumption that it's not worth seeking them out. But the first step of recognizing the illusion of choice between the big boxes is an important start - and the more voters realize how many others are similarly sick of the same old same old, the better the chance that another choice will be able to compete on an equal footing with the current big boxes.