How to best shorten the nomination/election process in the US?

[Lancer]

I'm thinking down to 3 weeks.

Week 1) Nominations

Week 2) Conventions

Week 3) Election

We can do it! Less than a month of this crap.

[Riesstiu IV]

Create reality television show where the candidates fight to the death in a haunted house full of snakes.

[SlowwHand]

Just make me president for life, and TEF vice president for life, and be done with it.
See what a good problem solver I am?

[Riesstiu IV]

President Slowwhands first act: Walmart will be required to give away shotguns to anyone who asks!

[Lancer]

They do, they're free, they just don't have any.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Reality show nominations

[Aeson]

Make it so incumbents are actually required to do their jobs for most of their term? (I'm sure if that was they case, they'd make sure to shorten the campaign season somehow.)

[rah]

Anything to shorten it. And let's force the candidates to do the public funding. The amout of money OBAMA is wasting every day could be providing health care or food to a lot of poor people.

[Velociryx]

Return to the Roman Gladiatorial Arena.

Dump all the hopefuls for each party into the arena...last man standing gets his/her party's nomination.

Do that for each party running, and once your choices are in, everybody votes by tv remote.

Bang...done in like a weekend.

-=Vel=-

[Arrian]

Re: How to best shorten the nomination/election process in the US?

Originally posted by Lancer
I'm thinking down to 3 weeks.

Week 1) Nominations

Week 2) Conventions

Week 3) Election

We can do it! Less than a month of this crap.

I can't think of a workable (read: constitutional) way of cutting down on campaigning. Free speech and all that. The same problem keeps coming up to stymie campaign finance reform... I do like the idea of forcing limited public funding for any candidate who can muster X verified signatures.

Week 1: Party Conventions & smear campaigns (err, ads)
Week 2: Debates, followed by a Saturday election.

Even better!

-Arrian

[Lancer]

How about votes count double for any candidate who doesn't do a n y t h i n g election related until three weeks before the election.

Or a pass card for doing an intern or something. Never having to define 'is'.

[Zkribbler]

Here's the problem with a short election process.

It takes a ton of money to run for President.

Nowadays, candidates can raise money as they go from primary to primary.

With a compressed election process, candidates will need to have all their money up front. This means either: (a) the candidate must be very wealthy so he/she can finance his/her own campaign, or (b) the candidate must sell out early to as many special interest groups as possible in order to obtain the necessary cash.

[Aeson]

How is (b) any different than we have now though?

[Garth Vader]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Here's the problem with a short election process.

It takes a ton of money to run for President.

Nowadays, candidates can raise money as they go from primary to primary.

With a compressed election process, candidates will need to have all their money up front. This means either: (a) the candidate must be very wealthy so he/she can finance his/her own campaign, or (b) the candidate must sell out early to as many special interest groups as possible in order to obtain the necessary cash.

Your first 2 points are related. It takes a ton of money because you have to spend a year and a half campaigning.

Just do your elections the way we do

[Lancer]

In 20 words or less, what do you do?