The politicians who begin focusing on unaligned voters in the final weeks usually forget about them as soon as the votes are counted. They make the mistake of thinking they won because voters lurched to the right or to the left when the deciders were usually somewhere in between.

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Will Democrats, who appear headed for a similar big victory this fall, keep this cycle of self-deception going? Probably.

But between Nov. 4 and Jan. 20 someone should think about what voters were saying, at least the voters who provided the victory margin.

Were they endorsing all things that escaped the mouths of all Democrats? Or were they casting a vote of no confidence in the status quo, and since there’s a Republican in the White House, they voted more frequently for Democrats? Because if they were voting for real change, they might be unhappy with the way either party acts once they get to Washington, D.C.

I was thinking about this last week while listening to U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks debate his Republican challenger Doug Cloud. Dicks had avoided debates before the primary but met Cloud three times and seemed at ease with the format.

But rather than stand in as the Democrat vs. a Republican challenger, Dicks was made to represent all that was wrong with D.C. Cloud, it seems, would have been just as comfortable debating a Republican as long as he or she was an incumbent.

That’s because the Gig Harbor lawyer, though conservative, doesn’t necessarily pin the blame for what ails us on liberals. Instead he points to corruption that stems from a conspiracy between government and Wall Street and special interests.

“I’m running against the ingrained incumbency in Washington, D.C., and on Wall Street,” Cloud said. He referred to a “servile Congress” that is bought by powerful interests that are then rewarded.

“It’s an absolute corruption gone wild,” Cloud said.

Dicks defended the institution and touted his own performance. He then pointed out the obvious, that a guy who condemns both parties might find himself pretty lonely should he get elected.

“Maybe he and Ron Paul could be a caucus together,” Dicks said, referring to the Texas congressman and presidential candidate.

But Cloud, more populist and libertarian than anything, doesn’t want anything to do with a political culture he calls corrupt.