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This episode brings back memories of Keith AFAICT seriously considering voting for Trump for the kicks. In a similar moment in time, the gang was laughing at how many times Hillary needed to swipe the subway card.
It tells you about one's political awareness and orientation if they throw everyone in the same bag, wrap it up nicely and label "the elites". That may be an accurate perspective if their positions are on the extremes, but if healthcare/human rights/environment are the priorities, it's not an extreme.
It's particularly problematic when Dems & Reps are (not the partisan inner workings, but rather why people sign up to one and not the other): if ending up with arguable policies are as bad as denying facts and lying, your satisfaction bar is so high that you're not going to be able to establish or maintain a democracy where problems can be solved in a reasonable manner.
Same with voting third party and not voting. Even in countries where 5+ major parties is the norm, if you're directed by purism-idealism, not only will you get nothing, and your vote will be effectively shredded by things like minimum thresholds, but it will remove you from the equation to benefit then-biggest runner.
But with the electoral college ("first we let you vote towards your state's decision, and then use very old and rough numbers to decide how important your state's decision is"), you also get to create something that has an important psychological and political impact: the popular vote result. So forget how blue your state is, because your vote will contribute to whether the majority of people - not land - coast to coast, stands for reason, or for bigotry. Imagine how perfect of an argument it would be for malicious populists, according to whom if most people vote that "2+2=5", then it's an established fact. It's slapped right out of their hand, and clearly shows how they're not the people's favorite.
I often ponder if the US would be better off with a President + Prime Minister system, just because everyone could elect their favorite TV show host, singer, actor, etc. for the highest position with no actual power and leave actual governance to people who know what they're doing. Follow the Trump/Oprah/Kardashian White House drama while not panicking they'll have to handle a viral outbreak or denuclearization (denu-what?).
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