I'm Running for President....in 2032!

In 2032 I'll be 55. By then, my kids will be 32 and 28. I'll be married for 32 years, possibly be a grandpa. I will have probably gotten involved in politics by then, maybe a run for state office, then statewide office, then maybe U.S. Congress, you never know. So, by then, I will probably have the experience necessary to run for the President of the United States. The reason that I am running now is that the race for the presidency is a long battle that requires a hell of a lot of time and money, so I better get started now!

Am I really declaring my intent to run in 2032? No. I really don't have the interest, time or inclination to do such a thing at the moment. However, my point is that the campaign for the presidency has begun, and we are only a couple of weeks past the 2006 election. What used to require about a year or less has become such an event as to require candidates to plan ahead years in advance. Most candidates before the 2006 election didn't want to talk about 08, they all said their focus was on 06. But we all know that there are some people in their campaigns that have met with them to discuss a run for the presidency. How else would Tom Vilsack be preparred to declare his candidacy this early? You don't think John McCain has been planning a strategy for the past 8 years.

In fact, let's look at John McCain. In the 2000 Republican Primary, he got on stage and blasted the religious right. He comparred them to the likes of Farakan. This of course didn't sit too well with the religious right and they came out in droves to vote for then Gov. George Bush. So what happened last year? McCain goes to Bob Jones University (yes the same university that Bush got a lot of flack for speaking at because of their anti-interracial dating policy) and was greeted by none other than Jerry Farwell. If anyone can claim that this wasn't a strategic move for the Republican nomination in 2008 they better be the best Sophists since Gorgias because they will be lying.

So, why does it start so early? Well, one of the problems is the primary system. Since the federal government allows the states to determine when to hold their primaries, a lot of states keep moving it earlier and earlier so they can have a bigger impact on the results. That is why Iowa and New Hamphire take their positions so seriously, candidates have to spend a lot of time and money in their states, why would they want to give that up? So, in order for a candidate to be sucessful in those states, they need to be out their campaigning and raising a lot of money and they need to do it early.

People continually complain about politics and how long the political season is, yet we allow this to happen. In other democratic countries such as Britian, France, Germany, etc., their campaigns are much shorter, cost much less money and are less of an annoyance to the general public.

In my opinion, we need to change the system. It is getting to the point where if you are not rich, you better know some rich people if you want to be elected. Most of us don't like money in politics because we feel that it corrupts the system, but it is the very system that causes money to play such an integral role in politics. Until we look at how we are running our elections, money and time will always be a major reason why someone wins an election.