Brief campaign should be norm

OCRegister.com ^ | 10/15/03 | Erik Pattersen

[NormsRevenge]

With the recall behind us, it is time to reflect on its positive lessons. The primary lesson has to do with the length of elections. During the summer, recall critics argued that the short election cycle would hurt voters. But they were wrong on several counts.

[DoctorZIn]

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[CyberAnt]

Oh boy, do I agree on shorter elections.

These 2-yr campaigns are disgusting.

However .. it would not allow the "unknown" to get known. I think that would favor the incumbent waaaaaay too much.

[goldstategop]

It would better to cut the amount of the time to three months. One to nominate candidates and two to campaign in the general election. Countries with parliamentary systems typically take four weeks to choose a new government. The time for Ontario's recent provincial election was a mere 30 days from the dissolution of the outgoing provincial parliament to the day the voters elected the new one. Our elections won't probably be that short but there's no reason we can't have elections in a 90 day cycle. California's recall election demonstrated it can be done.

[goldstategop]

Really? Then explain how Ontario voters chose a challenger over the incumbent government in the space of a month. I would think the kind of prolonged political campaigns we have tend to favor incumbents more than challengers due to the cost and the time required to win. Shortening the election cycle would give incumbents less time to raise cash and put them and challengers on a more or less even playing field simply by taking from incumbents the luxury of time to confuse the issues and launch last minute attacks on challengers to keep themselves in power. It seems to me that like everything else in life, less is more is the principle that sounds better.

[concentric circles]

... the essential issue: Gray Davis' mismanagement of the economy...

Revisionist cad! I never heard anyone blame the, soon-to-be, ex-governor for a slowly recovering economy. His crimes were much more personal: corrupt, pay to play, politics; abrogation of leadership in the face of difficulty; and betrayal of fiduciary trust.

Oh yeah, and hiding behind the skirts of a complicit press.

[CyberAnt]

Well .. you make a good point .. but I'm still concerned about an unknown running against a well-known incumbent.