If you think a given politician is bad, that your candidate is better, and you lose, then that's just how it is. Nobody was supposed to vote for you. If you align with a political party, then was the party's job to pick a candidate that was at least likeable. If they lose, it's because someone found the other party more appealing for some reason. (This, of course, ignores vote rigging, voter intimidation, and other methods of actively suppressing/discarding votes)
There are politicians out there you'd think are absolute demons based off internet comments and they only won because of so-called "protest votes", but going outside and talking to people, it's surprising how much support they have. It becomes pretty clear why they won.
There has been American ruling for a long time, certainly the period we might now call the good times. IE, once they did an adequate job. If there's a cynical nihilism among the voters, the willingness of the broad political class to provoke this feeling has to get a lot of blame.
* Implement PR-STV voting * Abolish the electoral college
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote
Imagine voting in order of preference and having it count.
PR-STV is damn near magical. It means you can vote for the person you _really want_ (so your super lefty communist or your right-wing neonazi, if that's your jam) but ALSO say "well if they don't win I want someone who's at least basically competent" - and your vote is allocated in the most effective manner. In some cases even if your #1 _does_ win the surplus can go to the next candidate, useful in elections where there's more than one winner (county councils, etc.)
Imgine if the GOP primary had been one person saying "Well I like Kasich, Rubio, Jeb" and the other had been "Well I like Jeb, Rubio, Kasich" in that order - Rubio wins. Instead we get the ones who pay any attention splitting as above and the masses who do stuff besides follow politics voting for Trump.
But it gets better! This affects behaviour. Right now, the republicans know there isn't a chance in hell of getting my vote so they don't even try. If they knew they _might_ get a 3rd or 4th preference out of me, they might at least go for it. I can imagine, say, voting Sanders->Biden->Hypothetical Lincoln Chafee or John McCain or whatever. I'm not a huge fan of either of my lower preferences, but they seem(ed) like decent people with whom my differences are a matter of policy, and would be VASTLY preferable to what we have now.
You should only vote if are truly and in favour of and see the good reasoning of someone’s ideas and who has shown a good track record. Voting out of emotion to stick it to the other team is like stabbing yourself with a dagger.
> Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.