What should we think of political parties that must rely on “low-information voters” who pay little or no attention to publicized election platforms? The real “threat to our democracy” is not the President, but same-party control of both chambers of Congress that can stifle minority opinion and lead to divisive overall governance by autocratic executive order. The often maligned filibuster and supermajority provisions were enacted for good reason. The competitive party lust for power invites a strategy of highly selective and seductive one-liners that an opponent arbitrarily did this or that, typically lacking full context and often edited. Street interviews generally reveal startling lack of public political knowledge and at best a handful of discouraging things the subject candidate did or didn’t say or do. With so many pressing national and societal issues (42 by my count), glib answers are not helpful to a public in need of greater engagement and understanding of the consequences of knee-jerk reaction. We might be pleasantly surprised to discover more problems subject to rational agreement. I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind about the advancing leadership contest, but it should be helpful to all to have the kind of reasoned deliberative exchange that should be expected of Congressional representatives - in our own neighborhoods. Phil Osifer