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Commentary, Politics

Election Rule Changes: A Modest Proposal

08.25.12 | Comment?

All this campaign non-sense makes reasonable people want to stick their heads in the sand to turn off the noise

Is there an eligible voter with an IQ higher than room temperature who is still truly undecided about the upcoming election? Nope. Yet we still have to suffer through 70 some days of blathering from the candidates and their lackeys which is truly wasted effort, money, and time. It makes reasonable people want to stick their heads in the sand to turn off the extraneous noise.

It’s time to reform elections for President, Senator, and Congress-Critter. Once upon a time when the world was “big” – and I mean big from a time/travel/opportunity perspective – it made sense to have a drawn out process before an election so that candidates could physically travel to visit with prospective voters in their native habitat. But now things are different, you can be anywhere in the good ol’ US of A in a day’s plane flight. Voters are inundated with 24×7 chatter via media, social media, propaganda, and advertisements. The world has shrunk and because of this change, we need to revisit and amend our campaigns.

What seems sensible to me is an election day minus 30 days kickoff. Allow 30 days of campaigning etc for Presidential, Senatorial, and Congressional elections. Allow private citizens and corporations up to $100 of contribution total during an election cycle allocated to whichever candidates / races they specify. Outlaw PACs. Revoke the tax exempt status from any religious outfit / union that mixes in politics during the election period. In short, make the voting period shorter, take out the special interests, and let people do actual work without all this wasted effort.

If we were to take this proposal, we could redirect all the cash being wasted into useful things like infrastructure, education, healthcare, police, firefighters, and defense. Who wouldn’t like that few extra billions put to work instead of pissed away with candidates lying about their opponents to a public that has long ago decided how they would vote.

Why not I say? Let’s make it so.

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