[Aloha]

That's not wrong, we have an issue with politicians promising things that are impossible or at a minimum highly implausible - because the structure of our political system means they won't be thrown out on their ear for making promises they can't keep.

[Gud]

It's not that they promise things that they can't deliver. It's that they pretend to be fighters for good, while instead using the system for cynical self gain.

[Aloha]

But they do promise lots of things they can't deliver as well.

[darkerside]

I actually think it's that politicians have been unwilling to promise things that they feel are politically infeasible, and arguably make no sense, like building a wall to Mexico

[Aloha]

Once Trump and his ilk came in, Those people lost elections.

[kergonath]

It kind of makes sense on an intellectual level, but I don’t think it is very plausible. Trump promised a lot of things when he was elected, most of which are practically impossible. I think he just promised the right things for his audience, whereas most politicians are so far up their arses that they don’t know what actual people want or care about.

[chmod775]

I don't think that's what GP meant: Voters just wanted to set the whole circus on fire. That the person they chose for the job also made impossible promises didn't matter.

This happens a lot on a smaller scale in other democracies that aren't a two party system - people vote for some nonsense radicals or weirdo upstart party to signal the establishment it needs to change. Sometimes this has quite funny outcomes: Pirate party, the Greens in Germany in 1983, etc. Other times it's scary nutjobs. Rarely the parties stick around for longer, slowly becoming the establishment.

[Aloha]

How is that different than anyone else?

Republicans and Democrats alike say whatever they need to win a primary and general election, democrats do that in smaller quantities - but it's still the same bullshit.

And before anyone says I'm "both sidesing" the green new deal (which was little more than a messaging bill with lots of words and little substance) was no more passable than building a southern border wall was, or repealing Obamacare (though this got close) for that matter.

[rayiner]

> we have an issue with politicians promising things that are impossible or at a minimum highly implausible

That's every democracy. The issue we have is that we're in a period where trust in elites is at rock bottom. (Both sides' elites--Mitch McConnell isn't much more popular among Trump voters than Biden.) The normal function of elites keeping the unwashed masses grounded in reality isn't working.