> The president is not picked based on the people’s vote Yes, the US President is. It's not a straight referendum but that doesn't mean it's not based on peopl

> The president is not picked based on the people’s vote Yes, the US President is. It's not a straight referendum but that doesn't mean it's not based on people's votes. > The US is a republic, not a democracy It's both. > where government officials cast the deciding votes No they don't. > The voting infrastructure can be easily tampered with The machines appear to be. That's quite a way from saying that the infrastructure is. That would require the tampering to be easily achievable. There's little evidence of that. > There is no limits on campaign spending Yes there are. They're not very effective but they exist. > Two private entities have a duopoly on the presidency Effectively yes. > to ensure the party’s pick a spot in the final national election This would be way more convincing if Trump wasn't the President. He clearly wasn't the pick of the Republicans establishment. Or anywhere near. If anything, his election shows that the parties don't have the control that they'd like you to think they have. The US presidential elections are far from a joke. Not perfect by any means but internationally important events and, in historic terms, beacons of democracy. And in case it need saying, I'm not American and have no interest in being American.