Campaigns Reformed - Revisited

On the most recent offering by former comedian turned sexist pig, Bill Maher (Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO) one of the guests made a statement that points to my blog piece of February 18th entitled “Campaigns Reformed.” http://reschzoo.blogspot.com/2008/02/campaigns-reformed.html
Tavis Smiley argued that the current system of primaries, polls and ‘general election reporting’ was terribly flawed in that many Americans do not even get a chance to vote before the winners are announced.
Mr. Smiley added that in the general election the polls may not have come close to closing in California while the media is announcing the eventual winner of the race. This disenfranchises the West Coast voter and could make the outcome of an election a ‘fait a compli.’
Bill Maher, who is so against Senator Hillary Clinton as to be irrationally moronic at times actually agreed. He defended Senator Clinton against those who wish her to quit the race noting that several states have yet to make their opinions known. Of course his opinion is well known, he wants Hillary to lose so badly that every other minute he is making jokes at her expense while defending Senator Obama against any possible joke to come his way.
The panel on the show touched on the subject of the ‘Super Delegate’ but did not delve far enough to offer thoughts of resolution. The arguments that crop up concerning those political insiders who hold the deciding votes this year is that they should vote the way the people vote. This is an interesting argument and while on its face seems logical is totally flawed. If the super delegates are supposed to vote one way or the other then why do they exist? It is the same argument that Tavis Smiley is railing against. Just because someone who voted before I had a chance to make my selection chose to oppose my view why should my view be any less important?
An election should not be on a first come first served basis. And after the stink of the last two presidential elections where fraud decided the outcome and America was the loser why have we not learned a lesson? Our President should not be someone we want to have a beer with if for no other reason than we don’t want him or her hung over when that 3am phone call comes in.
It is too late for this year but it must be done soon so that we don’t have to go through another campaign season such as this ever again. Trust me, there will be at least four people running for the 2012 presidency by February and the polls will have picked the winner by the summer.

Campaigns Reformed

Are you sick of the campaign bull shit? With the possible exception of the leeches known as political pundits and the advertising firms who reap in vast amounts of money to air inane ads I am willing to bet the answer is yes.
And the longer the campaigns the more time for hate mongers to spin their inevitable lies. Who would have believed “Swift Boating” would become a verb? And more importantly, why did the people behind those false statements and offensive slanders not pay for their crime? How did those ads help our country fall into the hands of such a moron? Perhaps we all fell asleep at the switch. We are all to blame so we must all find a way out of our rut and learn from history instead of blindly repeating it?
Here is one solution, or at least a start toward one. Let me know what you think and if you like the idea please pass it along to your friends and congressmen.
FROM NOW ON – NEW RULE:
Campaign season for major elections may start one year prior to the election in question and not a day earlier. This means that for a Presidential election the candidates throwing their hats in the ring may do so starting the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November one year before the election. This will also stop anyone from campaigning before the previous years elections have taken place.
Everyone who wishes to run for office may then campaign until the end of March. Monies donated to the campaigns may still be accepted but only a certain amount may be used for the campaigns. The amount may be indexed against inflation but these days both sides certainly should be able to get their respective points across for $100 million. This way the public will hear the message but not be sickened by it. Anything else the electorate needs to know about the candidates may be gleaned by watching or reading about the debates or by researching the previous public service records. Any excess money must be donated to charities. These charities must not be special interest groups or PACs. To be fair generally the parties should agree to donate to charities the other side would like to support.
The month of April is then primary month. All primaries must be held within the middle two weeks of the month and be over by April 21st. The parties may then hold their respective conventions the end of April or any time in May. Then the head to head battle of those left standing should begin.
Both or all parties then have the months of June, July, August, September, and October to debate, stump, and generally campaign to state their cases. The general election should be held as always on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. And the winner shall be determined by the sum total of the popular vote. There shall be no more electoral college.
I think we all need a break from the ever increasing campaign season which this time started just after the current President stole his second election.
And that brings me to the second NEW RULE:
We must come up with a fool proof method of voting and having the votes counted. Read my lips, no more chads. Companies with obvious ties to certain political parties or groups MUST NEVER BE ALLOWED TO RIG ELECTIONS AGAIN. Not that they ever did mind you, I’m just saying…
And since we will never be able to do this I propose that we go back to the old method of pulling the lever or using paper ballots with bonded security guards at all polling places across America. I love our elderly population, in fact I am quickly becoming a member of the group according to the SOBs at AARP but I am never happy about seeing people older than dirt in charge of securing our votes.