Presidential Election Process in America

With elections just over a year away the media has been making even more frequent reports about the potential presidential candidates for 2008. With no incumbent president it would appear to be an equal chance between the Democrats and Republicans for a candidate to win the presidency. Wouldn't it be nice if there were more choices? What if we lived in a country that didn't make it all but impossible for a new party to be formed? What if we lived in a country that cared about the planet and the population as a whole in such a way that economy and the environment were at the top of the politician's agenda instead of fighting a war, making the most money by stripping the planet of natural resources, and surface morals?

We would have a multiparty government in which each party was competing with each other to win the public's support; and if none of the parties had a majority within the government multiple parties would need to work together to form policy. The politicians would be forced to compromise and the public would have more issues that were of concern to them addressed, even though it would likely take more time to see the changes take effect.

This would also suggest a strong party election process where in the party chooses the candidate for each office they wish to represent and the public merely votes for the party which they share the most common beliefs with. Would this really inhibit the voter at all? How many people when going into the ballot box know anything more about the majority of the candidates beyond the person's political affiliation? Most of the time nothing. People will vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate simply because that is what they have always done.

However, those changes aren't likely to happen, so working with the existing political structure is necessary. The process will officially start early next year (the first primary is currently scheduled for the first week of January). In this process of primary elections, the candidates will go to each state and campaign for votes to win the chance to run for president within their own party. This is good for the winning candidates because they will receive a lot of free publicity while campaigning state to state and their names will be well known. This leaves the candidates more campaign dollars for the rest of their campaign.

After the primary elections the candidates usually tour the country telling each state about the policies he or she supports or doesn't support paying special attention to so-called "swing states". Because the candidate doesn't need to win a popular vote so much as he or she needs to win the Electoral College vote, the candidate must tour any state that could vote either way depending on the issues. For example, a state like Texas most often votes Republican, the overwhelming majority of the time. Therefore, neither candidate need to make much more than an appearance in that state as the citizens have a proven track record of voting for Republican candidates.

In November of 2008 the citizens will vote for the Electoral College, the Electoral College members are pledged in support of each candidate and the voter must choose which candidate they with the Electoral College to vote for, by means of voting for the Electoral College members. Then later that year, in December the Electoral College will vote and the president will be chosen.

The election process is a lengthy one, however the presidency is an important office. The founding fathers wanted the election process to be as fair as possible and the best candidate to hold the office. The people of America still want the election process to be as fair as possible and for the best candidate to hold office. Every citizen has a duty to vote in the primary elections and for the Electoral College to ensure the issues each person cares about most are addressed. The people are as important as the politicians in the election process, it is time the citizens remember that.