What Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are doing is revolutionary. They’re both taking big donors out of the election process. That’s an admirable thing to do, but it still takes big money to get elected, even if it only comes from one person, or many.
It doesn’t have to be like that. The voters have what the candidates want; Votes. The special interests have what the candidates need; Money. Candidates can’t get elected if they can’t spend the money to get noticed. The candidates have to cater to both the voters and the special interests to get and stay elected. If we took the money out of the election process, candidates would then only be accountable to the voters. That could make a difference on how politicians govern. (Maybe they would even feel a responsibility to govern.)
Why should it cost a hundred million dollars to run for president? Why don’t we eliminate campaign financing, give every candidate equal exposure, and elect the ones we like? We may not even need term limits. If we like what candidates say, and they do what they say they’re going to do, let them stay and keep doing what we like. Eliminate gerrymandering. Eliminate campaign financing. Maybe even eliminate the Electoral College, and have a popular vote. Give every message an equal chance of being heard. Elect the most popular message. Why does it have to be more complicated than that?
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