I’ve been pondering the crazy state we find ourselves regarding politics in this country. Getting elected today (particularly to a national office but local ones as well) comes down to two things:
1. Raising gobs of money
2. Getting your message out.
This tends to get politicians chasing the big donors (i.e. large corporations when aiming for Congress or higher) when they really should be responsive to their constituents instead. Lately we’ve seen how that’s working out, aren’t we?
It’s obvious that we need to do something about the money. So, why are gobs of money needed? To accomplish goal #2: to get your message out. Buying broadcast time is hugely expensive but it’s the quickest way of reaching voters. What if candidates didn’t have to raise money for broadcast time, though? What if air time was made freely available in the name of patriotism?
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