no, I don't claim allegiance to either party and I don't see any difference beyond semantics, brother - people on both sides of the aisle tend to believe crazy stuff regardless of evidence when their elected officials and the media are telling them it's true, and there's a growing lack of trust in our election results everywhere.
I agree with you that Russian influence is a minor factor, if at all, in our elections, and we do the same thing to other countries too so who are we to cry about it? But you and I both know that for years after the 2016 election, left wing media and Democratic politicians screamed to high heaven that the election results were bogus and Trump was controlled by the Russians. They had no real evidence for any of this, but as a result a majority of their constituents still believe it even after most of the claims were debunked.
Example A:
72% of Democrats still believe Russian interference is the reason Hillary lost in 2016
Example B:
Half of Americans still think Trump colluded with Russia even after Mueller's investigation cleared him of it
Obama's candidacy preceded the progressives' ascension which led to the current dysfunction of the Democratic party - the ball really got rolling on that stuff around 2012-13 during his second term, so I don't think he's a good example for what you're trying to show as moderate control.
I agree that Biden and HRC are moderate Democratic establishment types, but I think they're the last, dying gasp of that establishment, Rich. They were both terrible, ancient candidates, and despite their "moderate" status they both pander to the far left just as much as Trump panders to the far right. Hillary's fundamental unlikability and her arrogance in refusing to campaign in traditional blue-collar D states are the reasons she lost to Trump - like you said, Russia wasn't responsible for that.
Biden is almost 80 years old, an awful public speaker, and inspires nobody - despite having the advantages of zealot-level anti-Trump fervor from Democrats and most of the mainstream media, plus the COVID pandemic running rampant across the country, he still almost lost the election. If Trump had done a slightly better job managing the COVID pandemic, the orange man would still be sitting in the White House.
and after those two, what's left for the moderate Democratic establishment? Pete Buttigieg? Kamala Harris? I have zero faith that anyone in the current left wing power structure has the political will and savvy to stand up to the progressives and advance moderate views now that millennials and Gen Z are about to become the largest voting bloc in America.
I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but I think that although you're a very smart guy, you really, really want to see a difference, and so you do. But from where I sit, both parties are equally riddled with hypocrisy, corruption and stupidity - the Republicans with their obsession with conspiracy theories, the culture war, and "owning the libs" instead of substantive policy discusssion, and the Democrats with their progressive abandonment of actual liberal principles like the rights of the individual, freedom of expression and the value of a strong marketplace of ideas in favor of authoritarian ideological purity and conformity of thought, censorship, nihilistic solipsist worldviews and genuine revulsion for the majority of working class Americans.
I stated in another thread that I've voted third party the last two elections, and I can't see that changing any time soon, my friend.