OK, first off, yes I am going to vote for one of the major parties, although my heart is not entirely in it. (I'm skipping specifying which just to keep out of flame wars.) With the way campaigns are funded, "collusion" isn't necessary -- both sides need huge campaign war chests, and those are provided by big money. A candidate can't even get to the primaries without being something of a whore. Both major parties are fundamentally corporate-owned. (Heck, we no longer allow for forgiveness of debts in bankruptcy, even when the bankruptcy is caused by medical bills, and we don't have national health care; but today we've announced a rescue for the speculative banking industry on the order of $500 billion or more.)

I think the United States desperately needs third parties, but the system is rigged so they can't get a toehold. The solution, which, of course, the two corporate parties will block, would begin with "Instant-Runoff Voting" -- that would allow a person to vote his/her conscience without fear they were "wasting" their vote. Eventually, conscience could win out. But for that to happen, we literally need a Constitutional amendment, since the Supreme Court keeps ruling that any worthwhile limitation on how much money can be spent on an election is a violation of the guarantee of Freedom of Speech. (You can have as much speech as you can pay for!) The result is a war of TV ads that say nothing, cost a fortune, determine the election, and are funded by big money.

Frankly, I'm pretty low on hope for the United States. We've sold out the better values and get by now by borrowing and bullying. (OK, maybe I'll end up bringing on the flaming after all. But at least click on the link for Instant Runoff Elections.)