The political issues posed by the US midterm elections

This election has set a new benchmark for fraud and deceit.

NY’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, a dynastic Democrat with  presidential ambitions, mirrors the facile and inalterable corruption that permeates the system. He recently returned from a trip to Israel to kiss Netanyahu’s ring, precisely at the moment when the Gaza population was being massacred by the IDF. Such “minor” matters do not preoccupy this kind of politician.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]uesday marks the end of an election campaign in which billions of dollars have been expended in the effort to convince working people that there are significant differences between the Democrats and the Republicans. Nothing could be further from the truth.

On all essential issues, the two parties are united in defense of the interests of the super-rich—the billionaires who fund their campaigns and give their marching orders to senators, representatives, governors, state legislators and presidents.

US elections have long been manipulated by the corporate-controlled media and dominated by corporate money. Their democratic content has been increasingly vitiated by a political system monopolized by two right-wing parties of big business. They have become a means for the ruling class to adjust the personnel and party affiliation of those in power in order to better prosecute its offensive against the working class and advance its imperialist agenda internationally.

But this election has set a new benchmark for fraud and deceit. It has underscored the growing chasm between the broad mass of the people and the entire political establishment, revealing pervasive popular disaffection and outright hostility toward both parties and the electoral circus.

After six years of the Obama administration, which promised “change” only to continue and deepen the reactionary policies of its Republican predecessor, fewer and fewer working people believe that their votes will change anything. More and more recognize that the system is controlled by the wealthy. It is expected that Election Day will see record low turnout.

At a rally in Detroit Sunday, President Barack Obama summarized the issues in the election as follows: Democrats favor a minor increase in the minimum wage, which would still leave tens of millions in poverty; Democrats support equal pay for women, a claim that was not backed up by any concrete proposals; Democrats support slightly easier credit terms for students taking out loans to pay for college. These are differences in the second and third decimal point, the small change of capitalist politics.

Patrick Martin is a senior political analyst with wsws.org, an information branch of the Social Equality Party, which he naturally favors as an option to the captialist party circus. 

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