I've heard people say that it doesn't matter who you vote for, that you're just shoveling the same garbage in and out. At first glance, it seems to hold up. We continue to elect different people and yet we continue to deal with the same conflicts and gridlock. So far, the theory checks out.
The problem comes when we realize that divides on contested votes in congress happen very much along party lines. Filibusters happen along party lines. We vote for individuals, but what we're really getting is party votes. The truth is that political parties are all that matter. The individual you are voting for hardly makes a difference. For the most part, swapping one Democrat for another, or swapping one Republican for another is not likely to generate a different result.
So, why don't people realize this? In large degree, they do. The problem is that a large portion of voters don't think this generalization applies to their elected representatives. Approval ratings for congress are consistently in the gutter, yet incumbent reelection rates remain high. That is because people do not view their own representatives as part of the rot at the core of the body they are a part of.
Nobody wants to view themselves or their representatives as part of the problem, but until people start to pay attention to who they're voting for and the system they exist within, political parties will continue to dominate the political system. That domination comes at the expense of the actual voter.
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