Michigan is moving up its primaries to January.
Pretty soon every state will move up their primaries and we’ll be back where we started, only everything will start earlier. Except that since the nomination will get decided so early, there will be a serious lull in campaigning between the clinching of the nomination and the convention.
For the states, this isn’t just about being relevant for the sake of having a say on issues. It’s about collecting the revenue that’s generated from the campaigns when your primary makes a difference. No one wants to be left out of their share of the pie.
It also means that candidates need to start campaigning earlier and need to raise more money and raise it earlier. This, of course, raises the bar once again on who is able to run for office. It just gets harder and harder for Joe Schmoe to run.
Can we just get full public financing of elections please?
All the sudden, it seems Super Tuesday matters less, and getting yourself in early matters more. Pretty soon, I am betting we’ll see Super Tuesday right after Super Bowl Sunday.
On your note about who can run for office, it gets harder for Joe Schmoe to run because it’s simply a part of the game we all must play. It gets harder on Joe Schmoe because Americans are still buying into the Hollywood’s image of what a politician must me. It’s a case of which came first – the politician with the impeccable image that Hollywood copied, or Hollywood’s image of the polician?
It’s also because Americans aren’t participating in the political process enough. Per capita and on average, we spend more money on porn as a nation than we do on politics.
It’s sad, but that’s the way it is. Just imagine – if each of us, as citizens, just gave two dollars to either the Republican or Democrat nominee, depending on our preference – that money, alone, would give us more voice as a people than some fat cat lobbyist can.
I don’t know, just my two cents.
Can I give $2 to someone other than the Republican or Democrat nominee?
you can give it to me if you want.