I have to say that I really agree with you here in general. I suspect there's details we strongly disagree about, but on a general level, we probably have a lot in common in this. A media reform of some sort would be great, and a societal reform would also be great. Sadly it seems like the current system has the least issues, at least as far as I know, but I'd certainly love getting some huge improvements.

Since CGI locked my thread...

Did Hollywood Predict Trump's Presidency???

Watch the end to find out.

He got less votes than Romney and McCain and she still lost hahahaha, this is what you get for rigging the premaries

Nail on head.

People are disillusioned with the system believing it's fixed. On this backdrop, the primaries are... fixed. This information hits the public domain. Is it any wonder the number of votes in this election dropped?!

That said, I am really gutted that this was not the breakthrough year for the independents. It could have easily been so different. Maybe this will be the wake up call and at the next election people might be motivated.

Thank you Murica, almost a year of free and intense entertainment. It will be long before I get interested in anything like Bernie, Hillary, Trump, leaked emails, biased media, etc

I can't believe I called someone an idiot for daring to think about voting for Trump in this very website, TRUMP IS A RACIST OMG HOW DARE YOU. I've grown up and grown to understand his supporters, and let's admit, he's charming in his away little (hands) way

The problem with the 3rd parties is they just don't have a grasp on how to make use of the new means of promotion and lack the resources to contend in the conventional means.  Independents face the same issue.  Basically, the only people who can run as independents with much hope are people like Trump, Buffet, Gates, basically those with the wealth to self-fund their campaigns.  Thing is, the majority of those people have no desire whatsoever to be President :P

I do hope either a third party or independent makes a major move next election.  Having two overwhelmingly dominant parties is not healthy.

And always remember, if Trump is bad, it's only for 4 years..... and no, that's not your consolation. Your consolation is knowing that if brexist is bad, well... they dun goofed harder than you ever could.

He could well get a second term, you know. He ought to have a pretty good chance if he doesn't do terribly, and if he does, he's just going to blame others.

As you can see from the numbers of voters above, he could've been beaten. Next time, just choose a better candidate to go against him:

"She was the Democratic candidate because it was her turn and because a Clinton victory would have moved every Democrat in Washington up a notch. Whether or not she would win was always a secondary matter, something that was taken for granted. Had winning been the party’s number one concern, several more suitable candidates were ready to go. There was Joe Biden, with his powerful plainspoken style, and there was Bernie Sanders, an inspiring and largely scandal-free figure. Each of them would probably have beaten Trump, but neither of them would really have served the interests of the party insiders.

And so Democratic leaders made Hillary their candidate even though they knew about her closeness to the banks, her fondness for war, and her unique vulnerability on the trade issue – each of which Trump exploited to the fullest. They chose Hillary even though they knew about her private email server. They chose her even though some of those who studied the Clinton Foundation suspected it was a sketchy proposition.

To try to put over such a nominee while screaming that the Republican is a rightwing monster is to court disbelief. If Trump is a fascist, as liberals often said, Democrats should have put in their strongest player to stop him, not a party hack they’d chosen because it was her turn. Choosing her indicated either that Democrats didn’t mean what they said about Trump’s riskiness, that their opportunism took precedence over the country’s well-being, or maybe both."

Even without that, Trump may not even run for a second term.  He's pretty old.