After the 2000 election fiasco, I wrote "The election between them [Gore and Bush] came down to which brand of false populism you fall for more easily. So it is not surprising the vote was split right down the middle. ... The most corrupt candidate won [or rather literally 'took the prize']."
Huey Long (a true populist) once said, "They've got a set of Republican waiters on one side and a set of Democratic waiters on the other side. But no matter which set of waiters brings you the dish, the legislative grub is all prepared in the same Wall Street kitchen."
That remains quite evidently true today, and one might add in the same spirit that the only difference between our two parties at the national level is in their campaign messages. Which lies do you prefer to believe?