Washington State Secretary of State Sam Reed is calling for federal action by the Republicans and Democrats--and by Congress and the White House, if necessary--to prevent a repeat of the current two year presidential campaign.
There is no excuse for a process whose duration is unprecedented in our history and without compare in the world. No polity can maintain morale when the intense hurly-burly of political campaigns, wherein every small issue is deeply politicized, becomes the normal state of affairs. When you have the effective beginning of the presidential race the day after the mid-term elections, you condemn government and the people to perpetual and mostly synthetic uproar for the entire second half of a presidential term. The patient work of politics that requires study, reflection, discussion and compromise is usually impossible in this environment.
For one example: the present inability of a Democratic Congress to allow the passage of a bill providing protection for phone companies that help the government in the efforts to track calls by potential terrorists would not be much of a problem in a non-political environment, but now it is.
Political parties should be strengthened, but they should not be allowed to dictate the terms of the presidential selection to the extent they do now. The stakes are too high.
If you care about this problem, tell your party leaders and members of Congress. Specifically, Secretary of State Sam Reed needs active allies and backers on this issue.
