[nebabyte]

> should

Being the operative word. If you wish to pretend America's political process can approximate a hypothetical ideal on paper you're lying to yourself.

Until campaign finance regulations are back in place (the FECA amendments in the 70s would be a good starting point), until parties are wrested away from being the nigh-privatized dichotomy that led to the latest election's outcome, until the revolving door between government and the private sector is stopped, none of the rifts between that hypothetical and reality will be mended, because they are all symptoms of those key issues.