That thinks the seemingly never ending cycle of political campaigns is just plain wrong?
We are already heavily into the 2012 Presidential campaign which is about 18 months away, I don't believe there is anything positive comes as a result of these extended campaigns, in fact there are a number of negative effects:
- They delay needed legislation because no-one wants to propose or vote on something that may cost them support at the polling booth. Today politicians are putting off necessary entitlement changes further exasperating the rapidly growing deficit .
- They are extremely costly, there's talk of this presidential campaign costing $3 Billion, or enough to pay the annual salaries of about 65,000 law enforcement officers.
- State politicians with ambitions to go to Washington start focusing on the national elections to the detriment of their own states well-being.
- How can a politician do what he's supposed to do when he's obsessed with fund raising and re-election?
I believe that all campaigns should be limited in time, maybe 4 - 8 weeks before voting. This would cause less money to be spent and reduce the amount of time politicians spent on fund raising and campaigning and at the same time give them more time to do what they should do.
A related question - Should voting be mandatory?
I'd appreciate any comments.
