Here’s my idea of what would work better. Keep
in mind that this will never come to pass. I’m just proposing a different
way of doing things. Feel free to disagree or propose your own
suggestions. So here goes nothing.
I propose that we get rid of the two party
system. That means no more donkeys, elephants, or any other animal.
Everyone should have an equal opportunity to run for political office.
Despite what you may think, this doesn’t exist in our electoral system.
The opportunity to run for any political office should be open to anyone,
whether they are homeless or a live on a palatial estate. But there is
one thing that keeps this from happening and I will get to that in a moment.
My election process would be overseen by the Federal
Election Commission. Every potential candidate must pass a standardized
test on their basic knowledge of how our government operates and global
politics in general. Believe it or not, many candidates don’t possess
this basic knowledge. The potential candidates would only be allowed to
take the test once. The window for taking the test would be from June 1 -
November 30 of the year preceding the election. The ten highest scoring
candidates would be allowed to run for any federal political office in the
upcoming election. If candidates did not pass the test, they would not be
allowed to run for any federal political office for a period of one year. The
election cycle would run from January 1st of the next year until one week
before Election Day.
Now let’s talk about the one thing that keeps the
average American from running for political office. That one thing is
money and I have a radical proposal for correcting this situation. Keep
in mind that I’m talking about candidates running for U.S. senator, U.S.
representative, or POTUS. I propose that we get rid of Citizens United
and every other method of fund raising. Now, you’re probably asking
yourself how anyone could possibly run for office without any money. The
answer is simple. If you’re running for federal office, your campaign
should be financed by the federal government.
Here’s how my proposal would work. Upon passing
the standardized candidate test, the top ten candidates would be given one
million dollars which would come out of the federal treasury. This would
be the only financing allowed for a political campaign. Any candidate who
knowingly accepted campaign funds from any outside source would have to bow out
of the race, return any remaining funds and would be disqualified from running
for office for a period of one year. Federal campaign money would be
deposited into a campaign account in the same way that college students have
scholarships deposited into student accounts. Every expenditure would
have to be approved by the FEC and would be published on the FEC website.
Proper money management would ensure that candidates would be able to finish
the campaign process. It would also show the voters how well each
candidate can handle a budget. If any candidate should drop out of the
race, the remaining funds would be forfeited back to the federal
government. Any funds remaining at the end of the campaign process would
also be forfeited back to the federal government. This would level the
financial playing field and allow anyone, whether they be unemployed or a
billionaire, to run for political office. Media would be required to charge the
same rate for every candidate and those rates would be capped by the FEC.
Without political parties, there would be no need for primaries, caucuses, or
party conventions.
Now for the fun part. Voting would be done via
the Internet and would begin one week prior to Election Day. The website
would be overseen by the Federal Election Commission. Computers would
analyze the social security database in order to determine who is eligible to
vote. Voters would have twelve months prior to the election to verify
social security number and address information. If the information on
file with the FEC did not match the information entered at the time of casting
the actual vote, that vote would not count. There would be no electoral
college because the winner of the election would be determined by the actual
number of votes cast for candidates. It would truly be a system of one
person, one vote.
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