[Greyson]

Thanks for putting your thoughts out there. Yes, I agree it is time to take a look at our Federal Election Process. A key factor in this would be getting rid of the Electorial College. Ever since my childhood I wondered about the need for this. Of course it was explained in Social Sciences and then in undergrad Political Science.

Another road block to changing Federal Election Process and Campaign donations is Corporations are now considered to be people. Not so long ago, the US Supreme Court in all of its wisdom or lack there of, ruled that Corporations are people. This decision has major impacts in campaign finance.

Originally Posted by iamkeri1

Does anyone else but me think our federal election process needs, shall we say, a litte help? I've been thinking about it a lot and have developed a plan I think will deal with many of the issues. I see three main areas where change is needed. The first is the length of our election process.

I have long been an admirer of the election system in the UK, specifically the fact that candidates can not announce or begin campaigning until six weeks before election day. In the USA. our candidates start campaigning for the next election the day after the current election, it seems. This lengthy election process, and the enormous amount of money it takes to fund it, is largely responsible for corruption in goverment due to corporate funding. It also keeps good, but non-wealthy candidates from running.

Another problem in the election system is the way that each party chooses it's candidates. The primary system sucks. Each state has it's own rules, and the later primary results are greatly affected/influenced by the results in the earlier primaries. States with very small populations like Iowa and Vermont, have an inordinately large influence over the outcome of the presidential election.

A third problem is the two party system itself. Other points of view/solutions are effectively blocked from being heard. A candidate needs to already have national support/recognition before they can even participate in a debate or get government funding for their campaign.

Here's my plan.

I'd love to hear your solutions as well.

The presidential (and congressional term of office as well) begin at noon January 20th. So, June 20th at noon, (and no sooner) potential candidates could declare their intent to run for national office. ALL campaigns would be publicly funded. NO private contributions. The people pay for your campaign, you are responsible/in debt to, only the people for the way you perform your job once elected. To get in the presidential debates you would need to get petitions signed by only 1000 people in each state. If you are unable to get 1000 in each state, you do not run. (This would keep out the real crazies.)

Once you have the 1000 signatures from each state you get 1 million dollars in public funding to run your campaign (with all expenditures being carefully documented.) My funding recommendations center around the presidency. Different amounts would apply to Senate or House of Representative elections. Media would be required to offer advertising time/space to candidates at their lowest rates rather than at their highest rates as they do now. There would be three months of campaigning and debates followed by a national primary election on September 20. All citizens would be voting on the same day so no particular locale would have inordinate influence.

The top four candidates from each party would be placed on the federal ballot for the national elections to take place November 20th. Each of these candidates would receive additional funding for the national campaign, an amount somewhere in the neighborhoods of ten million dollars. You are only campaigning for two months so you don't need the multi-millions required for multi-year campaigns. When the results of the national election are counted, the winning party would take office. The candidate with the most votes would be President, the candidate with the second most votes would be Vice President. This way, the people choose the vice president, not the candidate for president as it happens currently. The successor to the presidency should not be someone chosen by a single individual.

January 20th at noon, the people elected to office will, of course, not be perfect. They will have their own predjudices, opinions and personality quirks, but they will not be beholden to the oil industry or the insurance industry or to wall street. They will be beholden to us. The people. We the people of the United States of America,

Patriotic Smooches,
Keri