[GCFL-discuss] FW: Is America Really Going to To this?

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

To coin a phrase, how come the Lance Media are always digging up negative
things to say about Obama, and hardly ever have anything negative to say
about McCain? There is an obvious media bias here.

But I'll bite anyway. None of the money Obama is spending is taxpayer
dollars, it is all private voluntary donations. So its not "hurting" any
class of people, except those who chose to give it.

It would be nice to put elections in an iron-clad straight jacket, where
each candidate is assigned an equal amount of money, and a specified
amount of TV, radio, print media, and internet time/exposure to make
their case, with all other spending by anyone and everyone prohibited by
law.

For example, to be even-handed about it, the Planned Parenthood ad which
stops just short of saying that Sarah Palin supports rape, and the
BornAliveTruth.org ad which doesn't even stop short of saying that Obama
supports infanticide, would both be banned.

The near impossibility of banning the "outside commentary" ads, the
reflex of any campaign to respond to or drown out such ads, is one reason
we've never accomplished this laudable goal. They always find a way
around whatever the latest law is. This year, the money is staying out of
the 527 groups who made headlines in 2004, running through 501(c)(4)
organizations which don't have to disclose their donors. 

Also, while McCain is limited in what he can spend, the Republican
National Committee, an independent organization not connected to the
McCain campaign, is putting tens of millions of additional dollars into
the presidential race. I've gotten two mailings and at least four taped
phone calls from them, not counting what they spend on TV ads and get out
the vote operations. (No, the Democratic National Committee is not
putting equal money into the presidential race, for the simple reason
that Obama is doing so well with fundraising, the Dems can afford to put
their money into congressional and senate races. No virtue here, pure
self-interest, but it does make the net balance more complicated.)

Another problem is that every minor candidate demands equal time. Now
with public confidence in both Democrats and Republicans at an all-time
low, it would be unfair and unwise to limit the public money and air time
to just these two. But it would be wierd and a real waste to give the
same 80 million dollars to every egotist who puts their name on the
ballot.

So far, we've got what we've got, and if a candidate can tap the support,
naturally they are going to make use of it. That doesn't say a darn thing
about what kind of policies they will work by if elected.

I would like to see a much shorter election season, leaving less room for
all the ads and spending and such. Maybe a nationally coordinated primary
season starting no earlier than April 1, ending no later than June 30, a
mandatory two months of media silence over the rest of the summer, and
two months for each surviving candidate to make their case in the fall.

The Supreme Court has found free speech issues in many attempts to
regulate campaigns. Depending on who is writing what law, either the
Democratic Party, or the Republican Party, or both, go to court over this
stuff. Republicans have historically had the edge on fundraising, and
therefore object to limits on campaign spending. So, Obama turned the
tables this year? The Republicans have no moral high ground to object.
Sour grapes. Not from you Lance, its your honest opinion, but the
Republicans really have no ground to complain.

Washington state has made some interesting efforts to establish primaries
which throw all the candidates together onto one ballot, let the
candidate list their party affiliation, if any, and let any voter cast
their ballot for any candidate, then put the top two on the general
election ballot. I like that. If the top two are both Dems, or both Reps,
so be it. If its one or the other, vs. a Green, a Blue, a Purple, and
Independent, or whatever, so be it. Its a good example for the country.

Siarlys
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