OPINION: Don’t let the midterms fool you — Oligarchs and their money-backed media campaigns are still driving our backsliding democracy

After a midterm election race characterized by deep polarization between voters over Democratic and Republican candidates, a sea of blue prevailed and swept both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate from Republican control. Make no mistake: The division between the Democratic and Republican parties has been historic, amplified and certainly not coincidental. Rather, the closeness of the midterm race was a direct result of the unchecked money and time elites invested in swinging states — investments that happened primarily under the table. We now exist in a system characterized by the decline of democracy, because of the lack of guardrails that make backsliding possible. The midterm race was close because political campaigns are almost entirely bolstered by money, with mass media corporations and elites profiting off our desire to engage with politics.

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