The ghost of elections past

But what about the next time? Who is going to explain in 1976 that all the people who felt they got burned in '72 should "try again" for another bogus challenger? Four years from now there will be two entire generations -- between the ages of 22 and 40 -- who will not give a hoot in hell about any election, and their apathy will be rotted in personal experience. Four years from now it will be very difficult to convince anybody who has gone from Johnson/Goldwater to Humphrey/Nixon to Nixon/Muskie that there is any possible reason for getting involved in another bullshit election.
-- H.S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, "February"

I don't know if I should feel like, well, it's been worse, or, well, the past sure ain't even passed.