Sometime late this evening or early tomorrow morning a tiny subset of democratic voters in Iowa will maybe, perhaps, possibly let us know who they prefer in the presidential primary. As I watched several morning shows on Sunday I was treated to interviews with these Hamlet's who despite a year of personal campaigning by exhausted candidates still seem unable to make up their minds. A couple of them even said they had narrowed their choice to four candidates, ticking off the four leaders in the latest polls. I have a feeling if Mickey Mouse was polling above 15% he would be on their short list as well.
Our election system is broken. From the nominating process through the conventions to the actual elections, we have allowed misplaced patriotism, dark money and human nature conspire to turn what should be a compact, fair and equitable process for choosing our president into a marathon which has most recently resulted in a pussy grabbing, misogynistic, racist reality television celebrity becoming our Commander in Chief.
We need to shorten our electoral process, beginning with dumping Iowa and New Hampshire as first in the nation bellwethers. Start the campaigns a month before the primaries start. A nationwide primary set in July or August and paid for with public funds would get money out of the campaigns and allow for a more representative candidate. Follow up with mail in early voting and an election day holiday for more traditional voters. These are just a few suggestions which I am sure could be improved. The point is we need to do something different than the current system.
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