system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: The current presidential election has revived my faith in American democracy

I should preface this by saying that this election has done nothing for my faith in the American electorate, but that is a separate point.

What I mean to get at here is that, for several years now, we have all been hearing (and circlejerking) about how America has become an oligarchy ruled by unassailable special interests, where popular opinion either counts for nothing or can be easily bought.

My argument is that if this were true, the establishment would not have been able to lose control of this election to the extent that it has. Donald Trump has run roughshod over such establishment figures as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio on a wave of popular support. Sanders has also gotten more votes than anyone expected.

What all this has shown me is that all the media power and entrenched connections of the elite are not enough to stop a genuine wave of popular opinion. Yes, at present that wave of opinion is baying for the blood of foreigners and Muslims. But it is doing so through genuinely democratic channels, against everything the elite has tried to do to stop it. For better or worse, the reigns of power in America are still in the hands of the depressed, enraged, occasionally racist, electorate. Claiming that special interests hold the controlling interest in governance serves only to absolve voters of responsibility.

To change my view, you'll have to convince me that Trump's support is down to factors other than just anti-establishment sentiment and populism; i.e, show that the forces driving Trump forward are not as democratic as they appear. I'm using Trump as the main example here because it doesn't look at present like Sanders will win against Clinton, so his example doesn't make as strong an argument for the weakness of the establishment's practical control.

Well, there we have it. I think this election has shown that the elites aren't nearly as 'in control' as we think, and that we as voters still hold a greater proportion of power than they do. CMV.

Point of clarification: I am not arguing that special interests don't hold too much power, merely that they don't hold enough power to be retain control in the face of organized public discontent at the ballot box.

(Note: This post is not in any way, shape, or form, even tangentially, intended as an endosement of Donald Trump.)
gpt
Trump may not be part of the establishment.  But, he's still a billionaire.  

The government isn't controlled by one monolithic group of elites.  But, with things currently as they are, you can definitely argue that the government is controlled by the rich.