Make every season election season

Here we are on the eve of another election. Actually it’s a primary, so we’re on the eve of the eve of another election. But along with all this bothersome electing, we’re also on the eve of the destruction of a thriving cottage industry. That would be the campaign/election industry.

Actually the term “cottage” is a little misleading. Considering the billions pumped into this enterprise, “obscenely garish estate” might be more appropriate, but they are, after all, in the business of politics so a little misdirection is to be expected.

Think of all those emails you’ve been getting about how money is corrupting the political process. Those ads don’t come cheep. The salaries of writers, pollsters, strategists and IT people are behind every one of them. This industry employs these folks plus bus drivers, sound and lighting engineers, makeup artists, security people and, of course, lawyers. The fact is, millions are being spent in the effort to tell you about the corrupting influence of money.

Then there’s the TV and radio adds that zero in on an opponent’s weaknesses. You know, stuff like candidate “A” was actually a Mexican citizen and is personally responsible for a woman dying of cancer, or candidate “B” is a secretly gay married Muslim known to be pallin’ around with terrorists. Do you think these political gems just magically appear? No! They have to be written and produced and researched. Of course, not researched too far.

And what about all those lawn signs that sprout every other spring? These political dandelions can cost a pretty penny. The money spent in local sign shops is in turn spent in local business establishments like grocery stores and gas stations and tow truck companies who pull cars out of ditches because the drivers were busy reading all those lawn signs. It’s classic capitalism, people, and it’s all about to come to an end.

In just a few short weeks this vibrant economic engine is going to shut down and put all these people out of work. And right when the economy was starting to show substantial gains. It’s a real crisis, folks, and we have to do something about it. But what?

The answer is so simple I’m surprised someone didn’t think of it sooner. We just expand the campaign season. We’ve already had glimpses of this in the past. When Lisa Murkowski lost to Joe Miller in the 2010 primary, she mounted a write-in campaign that won her the senate seat in the general election. Her steadfast insistence to persevere, along with Miller’s steadfast insistence to keep talking, put Murkowski back in Washington and at the same time kept strategists, writers, producers and countless others on the payroll.

This year we are seeing a similar situation in Mississippi. Tea Party candidate Chris McDaniel is refusing to concede after loosing to incumbent Thad Cochran in the primary runoff. You see Mississippi has an open primary which means voters don’t have to belong to a particular party to vote in that party’s primary.

Well it seems this dastardly Senator Cochran realized he was in a very tight race. In fact it was so tight that he and challenger McDaniel were forced into a runoff election, a race that favored McDaniel. Cochran started looking for other votes to overcome the McDaniel lead and he found them in the Democratic Party. He convinced enough Democrats to cross party lines and in the end he carried the day. What’s worse, these weren’t just any Democrats. These were black Democrats. This was more than McDaniel could abide and so let the challenging begin ... again.

The Mississippi Republican Party refuses to hear McDaniel’s objections and so off to court we go. Once again, writers, pollsters and quite a few lawyers will see a few more paydays. Good on ya, McDaniel.

These primary challenges, while they employ a few people for a few more weeks, still come to an end after the general election. Something more must be done. We need to start challenging the results of every election.

Imagine if Al Gore hadn’t decided that the good of the country was more important than his personal ambition. We could have possibly challenged the results of the 2000 presidential contest right up to the next election. I know, that means there would be no chief executive, but it also means that there would be fewer regulators stifling mega corporations from exercising their freedom all over the rest of us. Good going, Al. How many people are out of work because of you?

While there my be a few kinks to work out of keeping the presidency in a state of perpetual litigation, the congress is another matter altogether. Once the election is over they don’t seem to be doing much of anything, so why not turn them into an economic dynamo? This strategy may wear a little thin for senators who have a 6-year term, but those 2-year house members could be a cash cow.

I know this is thinking way outside the box. Heck, this is turning the box into kindling; but think of the benefits. All we need is the will to continue. If we could just come together as a nation, we could put ourselves in a state of unceasing divisiveness. We can do it, America. The time is now.