<...Buying elections, though, is, as evidenced by GWB becoming president.

Oh, yeah. Nobody at all gave any campaign money to Gore.

I realize it is impossible for a liberal to conceive of any reason someone would vote for a Republican other than strange, mind-control scenarios or the "fix" being in*, but even a lot of Democrats now think Bush is a better president than Gore would have been. Hell, in my personal opinion, Gore is just this side of the booby hatch.

"Buying elections" in this country is now done primarily by the incumbents dumping taxpayer money on voters, and by the challengers promising to do it if they are elected. Bread and circuses, without any decent circuses. Both parties are enthusiastic supporters of this technique, with the Republicans having the faint virtue of being slightly less enthusiastic than the Democrats. Voting ain't much fun any more for individualists.

*There was no "vote counting problem" in the massacre of the Democratic opposition by Ronald Reagan. Twice. I guess those elections would have to be tallied up to the Mysterious Mind Control scenario.