I don't have time to work the system, hang around, be the first to comment, build a network of previous contestants to upvote my posts, etc, etc...

It would work if there were a panel of judges who actually went and read people's contents and if they scrambled the order of those who entered.

Other-wise it's just politics that has nothing to do with content. It's just upvote-trading. "I'll upvote you if you upvote me." Etc..