What will we do?

The situation as I see it from my vantage point thirty-some thousand feet over Wyoming is not encouraging. We have a treasure trove of candidates vying for the top job. Wait, did I say treasure trove? Silly me, make that refuse bin; it’s more accurately descriptive.

I’m not going to get into personalities here. Suffice to say that judging by the current candidates, we would do better by bringing in the Ringling Brothers Klown Kar and choosing at random from among the occupants.

I have an idea! Big surprise, right? Let’s start over! Yeah, just toss the whole bunch in a deep hole and start accepting new applications. Now this might seem like a bold departure from the norm but then Ol’ Norm just ain’t doin’ us so good, now is he?

Here’s what I propose:

·       Allow anyone who would qualify under current constitutional rules to apply. We’ll need a complete resume / CV along with a candidate’s personal statement as to why they should be considered for the position. Upon receipt, each application will be assigned a code number.

·       No party affiliation will be considered

·       No primaries will be conducted

·       The voting populace will be encouraged to provide questions to be addressed by each of the candidates – one question per registered voter, 25 words or less.

·       Each candidate will answer each of the questions – 100 words or less

·       All qualified voters will be allowed to vote but neither inducements nor encouragements will be offered. Accommodations will be provided for those who would otherwise be unable to participate due to location, disability, etc.

·       No PACs, lobbyists, ‘experts,’ party hacks, etc. will be provided access to candidates over and above that available to every voter.

·       Rather than a debate, have each candidate prepare a final statement summarizing their previous statement plus answers to submitted questions.

·       Voting will be double blind, with no photos, videos or vocal audio provided. Voters will not know if a given candidate is male, female, black, brown, etc. They will be identified by numbers alone.

·       Tallying of the vote will be by a simple count.

Okay, so my plan might have a few minor flaws. But tell me, do you really believe the current system works better?