More like just Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Wisconsin will decide everything.
This system sucks.
California was, in Presidential politics, a Republican stronghold, not a swing state, prior to 1992. (Between Truman in 1948 and 1992, the only Democrat to win in California was Johnson in 1964; precious little swinging going on for a “swing” state.)
State and Congressional/Senate politics were less one-sided, though.
Look at the margins of those wins during those years (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...). The state consistenly voted very close to how the nation voted. Some years it voted slightly more Republican (Nixon in 1960 and Ford in 1976), other years less (Eisenhower won fewer Californian votes in 1956 than in 1952, contrary to the national trend), but it was always close when the national race was close. That Michigan, Pennsyvania, and Wisconsin hadn't voted Republican in 30 years didn't not make them swing states in 2016.
If they actually hadn't for 24 years, and had only done it once then, and hadn't done previously for another 20 years, so that in 10 presidential elections preceding they had each gone Republican exactly once—as was the case in California leading in to 1992, but with reversed partisan polarity—it would have made it silly to call them swing states.
It’s not like the other states don’t have a say (often bigger than the states you listed) it’s just that they are firmly in one camp or the other.
Just because you don’t understand the system, doesn’t mean it sucks.
At this point I feel the problem with the US is less the system and more the people. It's less than two months from the election, nearing 200,000 covid deaths, and the outcome is somehow uncertain. That's an indictment on Americans and frankly it's hard seeing common sense return anytime soon. The fissures are generational. Enough people don't want to see the damage repaired to affect the everyday political process to ensure it won't be. US is in need of a great leader , Biden doesn't feel up to the task. T
So it'll be interesting to see if plays out.
If the Democrats are smart, and Biden wins, they'll convince Biden to step down after 25 months so Harris can take over. Then she'd still be eligible to run for two more terms, but run as an incumbent both times.
I have never seen articles really critical of their own government.
Very doubtful.