In the world of the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, being “cash strapped” is defined by the mainstream news organizations as having just two or three million dollars on hand. The poor dears.
Imagine how it would be different if they ran their presidential campaigns on just five thousand dollars.
No big bundled checks from defense contractors, or pharmaceuticals corporations. No television advertisements that manage to introduce the personalities of the candidates without getting into much substance. No robocalls. No jet planes crisscrossing the nation.
It is being done – by the Green Party candidates. Of course, the Green Party does things in a different way from the Republicans and Democrats.
Now, some of the Green Party presidential candidates may have a bit more on hand than five thousand dollars – but not too much more. Five thousand dollars by February 1st is the requirement to remain an official presidential candidate for the 2008 Green Party nomination.
Green Party candidate Kat Swift is halfway there, and has sent out an email requesting a five dollar donation to keep her in the race.
There’s something really refreshing, amidst all the hooplah from the major party candidates, about a campaign for which a five dollar donation isn’t regarded as a waste of time and a drain of resources.
You can make a donation online, and rejuvenate your sense of idealism. Hey, that five dollars is just a fraction of your cable TV bill, and Kat Swift won’t ask you to watch any campaign commercials.
Hand me that soap-box, would ya?
Hey look, if democracy was done right, IT WOULDN’T COST MILLIONS to become president. All aspects of campaigning would be on the tax dollar and there would be NO MONEY COMING FROM THE ELECTORATE (since the prospect of BRIBERY would then be possible).Instead, it would be a merited position based on sound platforms that a majority agree with and a minority will not be harmed by in going along with. It would be about improving EVERYONES’ life.