I’ve decided to run for President of the United States. (Not!)
To be honest, even if I wanted to, my wife would cast the decisive veto. Call it the Alma Powell Syndrome.
The background: In 1995, Colin Powell was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate.
He had been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, so he was familiar with life inside the Beltway.
He knew the ins and outs of the political process, and the pitfalls of living in the Capital. But in a May 1996 interview with the Ladies Home Journal, his wife Alma acknowledged that she despised the hate mail, random callers and visitors.
Some said she put her foot down and General Powell abandoned his political aspirations.
And therein lies a sad story.
More than one person has noted the growing failure of the American political system. More and more, the sentiment is being expressed that, in a country of more than 300 million people, we should get a better cast of characters than those in, or aspiring to be in, the legislative and executive branches of government.
Some have said we could pick people at random from the phone directory and be reasonably confident that they would not do any worse than the current crop of incumbents.
So, what’s preventing qualified people from running for political office at any level? At least two roadblocks exist.
As Alma and Colin Powell found out, the presidential nominating and electing process has become a meat grinder, a blood sport.
Although less may be spilt at the state and local level, it’s still not a place for those with high ideals but thin skins.
Should anyone run for any type of political office, his or her entire life would be on display for all to see.
If an aspirant cheated on a fifth grade math test, that childish transgression would be only a mouse click away. There is absolutely no privacy.
Running for office and the accompanying lack of privacy has become a family affair. The days of Bess Truman spending as much time as possible away from Washington are long gone.
She hated the lack of privacy and returned to Independence, Mo. whenever she could.
Not only is the candidate’s spouse required to stand in the harsh glare of scrutiny, the children and grandchildren are also expected to make appearances.
In addition to the lack of privacy, money is the other major stumbling block preventing more qualified people from entering the political arena.
The amount of money spent in American elections is truly breathtaking.
The Center for Responsive Politics predicted that the 2008 elections at the Federal level would cost approximately $5.3 billion. About half of that was attributable to the presidential race alone. 2008 was the first year in our history that candidates for the White House raised and spent more than $1 billion.
All this money goes for advertising, yard signs, rental of phone banks, busses, airplanes and conference centers, food and the many other items needed for a campaign.
It would be enlightening if economists could measure the increase in the Gross Domestic Product in the months leading up to an election due solely to campaign expenditures.
Everyone decries the amount, yet it increases each year.
With the new campaign spending rules, or lack of them, the floodgates have all but disappeared.
In short, the American political system, and the nation itself, is slowly being starved for lack of good talent.
The problem is systemic and, with the twin obstacles of the dearth of privacy and excess money required, the nation is being deprived of the best and brightest.
But our nation has faced far worse problems and has overcome them.
The operative question is: will we do so in this instance?
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