An Awake Pinellas panel highlights big Democratic point of contention

To The Occupied Wall Street Journal founder, Arun Gupta, U.S. presidential elections are about as vapid as it gets.

"The only candidates we get to vote on (are) Coke and Pepsi," he said. "Maybe there's sometimes Diet Coke or Coke Zero, but it's still Coke and Pepsi."

He attributed this to what he called a "money primary," in which presidential candidates aren't taken seriously until they raise millions of dollars.

Gupta was speaking at a well-attended Awake Pinellas panel discussion at The Studio@620 titled, "Is This What Democracy Looks Like?" The event was held in sync with — though not a part of — the Republican National Convention.

This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2012.