by Ted Sherman

Created on: June 30, 2007   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

The ideal political situation would be that elections should feature only candidates who have no financial connections to any person or group. As the Constitution provides, any citizen has the right to run for public office. This implies that elections should not be funded by private and corporate donations.

Has this ever worked in past elections, especially those for the top offices in the nation? Maybe the only two exceptions to rich guys with lots of rich pals only getting into the Oval Office were Abe Lincoln and Harry Truman. Lincoln was a back-row Congressman from Illinois who was supposed to serve his Presidential duties only as a front man for major business leaders. He proved to be totally independent and a much more capable and honest man than anyone could ever expect.

Truman, the obscure Missouri Senator, was slated to be the almost invisible vice president for Franklin D. Roosevelt's fourth term, but FDR's death thrust him into the job he never expected nor wanted. Fortunately for the nation, he emerged as possibly one of the best Presidents in history, along with Abe Lincoln, as a poor man who grew into his job. Don't expect this to happen again any time soon.

It is probably too much to expect that the American election process will ever return to its original concept that anyone can run for any major political office. First of all, to try to get such a law through Congress would be quickly defeated by that august body of well-bribed pals of business and industry. Secondly, even if such a law were proposed, voters would never accept yet another heavy burden on their already over-taxed shoulders.

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