Now the circus really begins

Now that the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention have ended, we can all sit back and watch as the real circus begins in all its splendor of rallies, speeches, debates, cheers and sign-waving.

Mixed in to round out the experience is the foul stench of polarizing politics, attack advertising, the nastiness of pundits, annoying robo calls and newest member of these negatives — the Super PAC. What a grand mix.

I say that with pinched nose and tongue in cheek. Thankfully, this election is on its last legs. We have only to suffer a couple more months until we vote for our choices in November. I, for one, can’t wait until it is over. I’m sure a good many out there feel the same about enduring a presidential election cycle that has been going on way too long.

And it will be a grand, three-ring circus. Think it was bad before? Think again. It will get worse. It will get nastier with each passing day. There is plenty of blame for this on both sides. Both need to have an accounting for, in my opinion. There needs to be a major overhaul of our electoral system, especially when it comes to national politics such as a presidential election. It is very plain to see something must be done.

One thing to do is take the “super” out of Super PACs. Gut them. Some have commented to me that my stance against Super PACs is somehow against free speech. Really? A Super PAC is not about free speech, it is about money — lots of money to the tune of billions of dollars — and all to gain power. I find them a corruption of an already flawed system. It turns an election into a Wally World, bargain-basement blue-light special. They are a source of most of the bad odors that plague this election, so they must go.

Make all contributions fully public — all of them, from the $5 uncle Billy makes to the largest ones made by billionaire Paul to his candidate or cause of choice. If the notion of corporations as people remains standing, then they must be listed as well. No secrets. None.

Can we shorten the election period? Let’s cram it all into a period of nine months. That should be plenty of time for all the hoopla, debates and conventions to do their thing. Right now it seems to be about two years, and that is way too long for anyone’s patience.

Make all candidates responsible for any ads made in their names. Those groups must take direction from the candidate and must be approved by the candidate in question.

Another pet peeve can be addressed by reversing the election returns. Start the counts after the last polling place closes on the West Coast. I hear this from a lot of people who don’t bother to vote because the results from projections are already posted shortly after the East Coast counts, hours before the West polling places have closed. Why bother? That is a sad thing to hear. Please, no matter what happens, exercise your right to vote.

Now I have written about this before. These are only ideas, opinions and suggestions I feel would help bring about reform to a very troubled electoral system. It needs some major repair work. Sometimes ideas need to be repeated in order for some to take notice. Or, in this case, our three elected officials in federal office right now. I think you know of whom I am speaking.

This election is nearly over. It is too late to change things now, so whatever changes must be made should take place before the next one. That is four years from now. Time to start cracking the whip at our elected officials to get to work, because if nothing is done, this nation will not be run by the people and officials will not be elected by the people. Instead elected officials will be run, owned and ruined by corporations. Is this something you want to see happening to this country?

There is talk that it is too late, that both parties and their candidates have already been bought and owned by big corporations. I disagree. Oh, I’m not naive about the fact that corporations are involved. That they have sunk their teeth deep into the elections. They are there no doubt about that. I say it is well past time to pull their teeth out by the roots and toss them out.

It may be a circus, but it is the people’s circus; one we either love or loathe. It was woven into the U.S. political fabric since the days of our earliest presidents. We just need to take a large shovel to muck out the stalls and clear the air. And restore our elections to contests about each candidates’ vision, ideals and issues. It should never be about how much money the other has, or can use to buy an election.

I believe we have our work cut out for us. We must fix many flaws in order to bring back the show free of the toxic mess it is now mired neck deep in. We could just let it slide and leave it to others to decide who runs this nation, those with large, over-stuffed pockets filled with billions of dollars. That is asking a lot, isn’t it?

Or is it? It is our country, after all. We should take steps to ensure it remains that way, otherwise there will come a day very soon when the White House and the Capitol dome will be sporting large neon signs on their roofs with a logo of some big company written there for the world to see. Even if only figuratively.

A Brave New World must remain a science fiction story. But at the rate things are going. Well, it just may become a very sad reality.

And the election circus, with all its flaws and annoying traits to love or to hate, will go the way of the dinosaur.

Please note that this is not about left or right, Republican or Democrat. This is about something that involves all Americans. This the land of the free and home of the brave. I don’t want to see it become the land of the corporation, home of the wage slave.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.