This Article (which I find kind of hypocritical considering the Bush dynasty) points out a large failing of our government system. “There are three issues behind this trend,” said Bob Edgar, the president of Common Cause and a former Pennsylvania congressman. “Money is issue number one, money is issue number two and money is issue number three.”
Nobody can win office without spending lots and lots of money. If you are not at least very well off, you don't stand a chance of becoming an elected official on a state or especially national scale.
I'd like to open this up for some discussion - How can we change those three big issues facing potential candidates?
I believe that the answer is simply to educate the American people to vote for the best person and not just some rich fool. The best person will have no trouble raising campaign contributions. Barack Obama came from humble beginnings and was able to bring in the contributions needed.
ReplyDeleteI think that in order to become president of the United States and a world leader, a person has to be quite exceptional. It's an enormous commitment. Once a person is elected, they can't just change their mind one day and quit.
Barack Obama worked hard to get a good education. It wasn't handed to him. People backed him and financed his campaign because they believe in him.
In a way, I think it's good that it costs a lot of money. It weeds out people who aren't willing to do whatever it takes.
That doesn't eliminate the problem of a rich person buying the presidency. But, if the American people were educated to be skeptical, not put a halo on a candidate just because they were born with a silver spoon, that would help.