Quote of the Day “My friends, let’s get out of here. I’ve got a fridge full of beer at the house, if you can just help me find it.” TB’s fictional John McCain, misquoted
How long has this been going on? It seems like just a decade ago TB was dreading the candidacy of Hillary, supporting Edwards for his morality and deriding Obama as delusional for believing a black man could win a major party’s nomination for President. It was around the same time John McCain was relevant and Sarah Palin was having anonymous cat fights with her ex-brother in law’s new girlfriend. I realize the USA loves its antiquated traditions. Although the rest of the civilized world has moved on, many of us don’t want to give up on our age old All American practices of allowing corporations to run our lives, shooting one another, or hating soccer, and of course, interminable election cycles. But TB has an idea of liberal, even radical progress, I truly believe could garner bipartisan support. Let’s shorten the election season.
Only American elections have a season that makes NASCAR’s seem reasonable in length. The primary campaigns start the day after the mid-term elections. They go on for most of a year. Then, after a couple of bye weeks, we ramp back up for 3 months more, a playoff season that makes the NBA’s look lightning fast.
In the not too distant past, this made sense. Back then, there were no twenty-four hour news channels and no internet. There were no national newspapers. If candidates wanted you to know much about them, they had to hop a train and give speeches at each whistle stop. They had to come to your local town’s rubber chicken club and speak. They had to eat pie in diners, not to get their picture made, but because they liked pie.
All this isn’t necessary any more. We have 26 cable news networks, chain emails and blogs to get the word out about candidates. The candidates own planes and buses and Joe Biden rides the train. You can get good pie from the grocery store nowadays.
Here’s the plan. The primaries are held in August and September of election year. We divide the country into 4 regions and rotate which goes first and last and the states in each region hold their primaries on the same day. The political conventions are abolished–who needs ’em? Campaign, blog and send bogus chain emails like hell all October then vote and be done with it in November. That’s a sensible season–training camp, regular season and championship, nice and tidy.
Think of the money it would save! Think of the sanity it would preserve! Think of the email space that would be freed! And in all seriousness, think of the political anger that would possibly be lessened, just a bit. The longer these things go, the more attached we become to people and ideas that often are at odds with our own. And Sarah Palin wouldn’t have to start her 2012 campaign in the midst of McCain’s 2008 one.
Of course, she’s delusional if she thinks she’ll ever get the nomination.
Travellinbaen 
Yeah. These campaigns are total B.S. I agree with the primary except they should all be on the same day so they mean something. So the candidates aren’t already decided by the time some states vote. Also, I agree with abolishing conventions. They are a Joke. Unless there was just one convention that they all participated in at once. These could include some debates and such. Real debates where they actually “debate”, I don’t know what they call themselves doing now but it ain’t debating. And i think all candidates should have equal money, equal commercials and equal debate time for all party’s candidates. If you want to donate to a campaign then your money goes into a general fund which is distributed among all candidates. Then use the money to make an equal number of ads and host an equal number of true debates. Its a joke that we only have two candidates that are nothing more than puppets for their parties.
Also, I don’t think Palin would run for Prez. but if she does I have some advice. Just promise everything to everyone with no valid explanantion on how to achieve it. It’s worked really well this year.
Amen. I just told a friend yesterday that I never wish time away, but I would love for the election to be tomorrow instead of 3 weeks from now.
If we don’t shorten the election cycle, then we should start an attendance requirement for government officials. Think about it. For almost two years now, Sens. Clinton, Obama, McCain, Lieberman and Reps. Kucinich and Paul have been effectively MIA from their legislative duties — all while drawing a paycheck from us. It’s nuts.
Also, you’re dead on about money. By the time this election is finally over, the total money spent will be somewhere around a billion dollars. A billion dollars could buy you a former Fortune 500 financial company. Seriously, think about all the medical supplies that could be bought or research that could be conducted with a billion dollars.
Instead, that money buys us a never-ending cycle of mud-slinging, intelligence-insulting campaigning.
I agree totally! I participated in a survey last night about the campaign. The guy could not stop laughing at me and my comments about the national candidates as well as the local ones. They also asked about my religious affiliation and how often I participated. All that money wasted which makes me physically ill (not to mention the money lost in my retirement) plus we are subjected to the negativity regularly though the TV, internet and/or radio. I think their pay should be deducted for every day they are not participating in their senatorial or governmental roles. That is what our employers would do to us if they let us keep our jobs in the first place.
I cracked up this morning at Ralph Nader wanting Paulson to contribute 25% (that may not be the correct figure) of his own money towards the bailout.