…….do something smart and unconventional. And as is the case for all situations, there is of course a middle of the road approach to what we have proposed so far. While our suggestion in the previous article might be too radical or revolutionary for the Republican Party hierarchy and leadership, they should at least consider bringing the Presidential election process into the 21st century. Communications have changed so drastically in the past twenty or so years that surveys, polls and other information gathering can be relatively inexpensive and quick. With e-mails, face book, twitter and whatever else, you can reach millions of people with a click of a button.
In light of this, we have to question the rationale for the 19th century style electioneering whereby the potential candidates spend endless hours and days over a period of several months walking through Iowa to meet the locals and talk about their plans and visions for the future of America. This is so ridiculous, it borders on idiocy and we find no reason whatsoever why this ‘tradition’ should be maintained. The emphasis on the Iowa caucuses and the first primary in New Hampshire are so outdated and outright stupid, one has to wonder if these candidates who put up with this are really serious about America and becoming President. There is absolutely nothing special about the folks who live in Iowa and New Hampshire and as we know, these kinds of elections have been fraudulently abused, the money spent there is truly a waste and there is absolutely no logic in hanging on to this ‘tradition’. It’s almost as ridiculous as saying “I am voting Democrat (Republican) because my Grandpa always voted Democrat (Republican).”
We have to seriously ask why the powers to be in the two major political party’s think that a deviation from this ‘tradition’ (Iowa and New Hampshire) is not good. Why do they believe that it is perfectly alright to eliminate untold millions of Americans to participate in the primary election process. As we know, right after the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary several candidates declare their exit from the election process based on the outcome of these two ‘early birds’ totaling just a few millions votes. The other 110 million voters between the two parties will see a reduced slate of candidates and then will vote for the ones they dislike the least or simply not vote at all since their initial favorite guy was not getting enough votes in these two small States.
There is plenty of room for change in the American process and it is our hope that the Republicans are open minded enough to consider changes. They only have to look at the recent creation of the TEA Party movement across our country to see what a grass roots group can accomplish with relatively small budgets by using the new communications tools available to all of us. The question remains, is it already too late to develop such changes for the upcoming Presidential election cycle or will the Republicans have the guts to simply put America first and do what’s right for the country.
If not, we will just have to suffer through another boring primary process of multiple dozen or more candidate forums which achieve absolutely nothing followed by seeing potential candidates sitting on haystacks in Iowa, eating the local food specialties and talking to the folks about their plans and ideas for America. Common Sense University hopes it is not to be the case but then common sense and logic have been kicked aside for good old American traditions when it comes to picking the next President of the USA.