"The Shiny Thing Hypothesis"

Here I am, trying to stay employed and pay my bills, and pay enough attention to international issues to try to cast a vote for a President who will end up making the world a little better place. I started off believing that the Democratic Party meant the shiny things it dangled in front of idealistic voters. Gradually, I began to see that they dangled different shiny things in front of different sorts of voters hoping to enlist them. Later still, it became clear that the shiny things were just... well, SHINY things, and we were all like so many stupid trout, snapping reflexively, and ending up feeding some fat fisherman.