Allan, I felt the same for many years. I have cousins who, sadly, aren't smart enough or interested enough to give a damn about being civic-minded.

Guess who they support like little puppets. I don't associate with them because they think I'm a "leftist" and shouldn't care about such things as caring about to think about who I vote for. To them, it doesn't matter because ALL politicians are the same, all are equally crooked. I kind of wish they didn't have the right to cast a vote in any election but have no idea how such a society can be attained without resorting to Jim Crow type laws and literacy tests.

On the other hand, many or most do care about who's in Office because they do care, are civic-minded, but often are afraid to let their thoughts. It's a sad thing when someone can't openly express his or her political beliefs without being "attacked" by the opposition.

I do believe that many of our problems are caused by our Senate's self-made rules that allow a single Senator to block any legislation from passing.

That stupid rule is what the Roman Senators used and it didn't work out well for their citizens...

Alright, I strayed off topic but feel the same as you about every single person having the right to vote. That isn't how the government was set up to do in the early decades of our Nation. Maybe something like that could be reworked for the 21st century