Presidential Term Limits, Time For Radical Election Reform

I happened across an article on the Christian Science Monitor website suggesting a repeal of presidential term limits.

An interesting concept, but one I don’t think we should embrace. The argument is that removing term limits might allow us to keep a president in office who is doing a good job.

Sadly, that ignores some important realities.

Problem Is Politicians As Much As It Is Politics

The world of politics is filled with greedy, self-serving and crooked politicians for instance.

Another reason not to abolish term limits is that there is no real practical accountability for the office of President, except to Congress—itself full of the afore-mentioned kinds of politicians.

Now, perhaps I would say, “Great, let’s do away with term limits,” if they also made it so that the President was answerable for his/her actions upon leaving office, and could have legal proceedings brought against them as the result of any citizen filing a complaint. This works for the nation of San Marino quite well.

Reform The Campaigning And Election Process

What we need, is a complete overhaul of the American electoral process. A modern one more appropriate to the times.

Get Rid Of Money First

Now, if we did away with the money aspect altogether, eliminated the entire current method of political campaigning, I might also be for no term limits. It’s possible, we have the means and ability to do it.

Money and personal gain are why we have career politicians. Very few people enter politics out of a genuine desire to serve their country anymore.

Witness the outrageous salaries, benefits, perks, priviliges, health care packages, and retirement benefits that politicians have set up for themselves.

Witness how many Americans live under the poverty line while they squander our tax dollars: 37,000,000 and rising according to 2005 estimates by the U.S. government.

How We Could Do It: The Process

• Eliminate the electoral college—it was designed for a time when the majority of the nation’s population were illiterate and uneducated, not to mention it can elect a President other than the one mandated by the popular vote.
• Eliminate all private contributions in politics above a certain amount. If people want to donate large sums of money to politics, it should go into a universal fund at local levels if it is larger than say $1000, so that all communities share equally the resources to make informed choices.
• Create a new system where every candidate gets the same access to the media and a chance to get their platform out there in front of people.
• Start elections at the county level, in every county across the U.S. Have all candidates that meet the pre-screening requirements put their platform on a county government website for everyone to access. Hold voting both online and offline. Allow candidates to answer “debate” questions that are then posted online for everyone to view. Voters choose the best candidate at the county level.
• At the state level, all winners from each county again upload their platforms to a state election site and “debate” questions are available to entire public. States would be required to publish a uniform type of candidate summary for each candidate in the largest newspaper in a given county. Election is held. Top five candidates go to run-off.
• Run-off candidates get equal time for televised debates, public service announcements, and radio airplay. Run-off election is held.
• Each state winner gets equal access to public service announcements, radio, and profile summary is published. All platforms are online. First national election held.
• Top ten candidates go to the final presidential election.
• Limit ALL campaign expenditures at levels above the county level to something small, like $30,000 maximum in total private campaign contributions allowed. No one would then benefit from big lobbies and corporations. It would level the playing field.

Or something like that.

Create A More Educated Voting Population

Elections could be held in a relatively short amount of time because a standard system for all candidates would be in place. Every citizen would have access to all candidates stated positions, backgrounds, platforms, and personal histories.

Everyone citizen would also gain an increasing awareness of issues as the stages progressed from county to state to national levels, thereby creating a more informed and aware voting population.

You would take away the big incentives for those politicians who weren’t sincere about doing something for their country from participating by eliminating huge campaign contributions. You would take away the power of corporations with ulterior motives to unduly influence government.

Choose From 3,143 Candidates Each Year: Goodbye Partisan Bickering

The best part would be the field of candidates to select from. Every 4 years, 3,143 of America’s best and brightest would have a shot at leading us (that’s roughly how many counties there are). Think of that! That means a better chance of finding the right person for the job instead of the person who owes the most financial and political favors.

Another added benefit is that the traditional two-party system would collapse. If the President can come from a more diverse background and doesn’t feel like being a party lackey, Congress and their partisan bickering loses some power to hold up progress.

Hell, if we did the same kind of election process for members of the House and Senate, we’d just eliminate the entire party system altogether and be better off.

More actual work would get done by Congress, and politicians would be more inclined and enabled by the climate resulting from a new election system to actually vote their conscience instead of some assinine party line.

A Speedy System, One Year Only

This could be a fast system as well. Candidates would announce and file. Within a few days (let’s allow ten days at each level of elections to get it done) their information would be available online, and they could have a month to campaign at the county level from the day all candidate information goes live.

After the county elections, their existing information is simply transferred to the state election servers, and they add new information about their stance on state and national views.

Allow two months. Hold the first state level election. Allow another two months for campaigning by the five run-off candidates and have the run-off election. We’re now at just five months and 20 days.

Allow another two months for campaigning and hold the first national electon. We’re now still under 8 months time. Allow the top ten candidates the remaining four months to campaign and hold the final election.

Make Politicians Work For Votes

With such a new system, politicians wouldn’t have as much time to waste on photo ops and golfing. They would have to get busy fast, working hard to meet and convince voters of their sincerity.

No longer would we just see the same four tired old candidates on the news and tune them out. We as voters would have to become more aware as well.

The candidates would be campaigning against others with virtually the same resources. The best and brightest and most charismatic leaders would rise to the top instead of the one with the most money.

Electoral Process Is Outdated, Biased, Stifles Leadership, Encourages Corruption

We could and should eliminate the entire electoral college and the primary system as it exists. All it does is fuel corruption, media speculation, and keeps voters from having any real choice except crooked and self-centered elitists rammed down our throats.

For a society that touts democracy as the best thing in the world, we don’t really practice it very well. We’re a Republic—and a pretty corrupt and inefficient one at that.

We ought to at least be a smart, efficient, and ethical one that favors finding the best our society has to offer. Instead, we choose those most interested in spending millions of dollars to land a job that pays only a fraction of what they spend.

If you haven’t ever, ask yourself why it is they do that?

No Matter How You Slice It

There’s no real reason we should continue with our present system. It alienates some voters, is inefficient, and allows far too much interference by county election commissions and judges and wealthy campaign contributors. It elects presidents that the majority did not want.

We’re a more enlightened society and we deserve a more enlightened and modern method of choosing our leaders that reflects where we are in history—not one that holds us back because of it.