by Sean Curtis

Created on: February 04, 2008   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

One of the interesting things about our political system is that we re-elect officials either every two, four, or six years. On the one hand, this is a positive because (in theory) it keeps our politicians honest. If we don't like the job they're doing, we simply don't re-elect them.

On the other hand, the frequency of our elections means politicians have to spend a lot more time fundraising, glad-handing, and kissing babies. This is a distraction from their job, but a necessary one given the short cycle of re-election.

The problem is compounded by the primary season. Not only does the general election distract and occupy representatives, but primary races extend the campaign season even longer.

Republican and Democratic candidates were campaigning in Iowa well over a year before the Iowa caucuses. New Hampshire was widely visited as well. Now that the primary season is in full swing, candidates are on the road practically (if not literally) non-stop. So this begs the question, who's doing their job?

John McCain, Hilary Clinton, and Barack Obama are all still members of the Senate. For the most part, the three of them haven't been in Washington D.C. for months, except for a brief stop here and there to make (publicized and politicized) vote. Who was running New Mexico while Bill Richardson spent months campaigning in Iowa?

You can't blame the candidates for this. The system is set up in such a way that they have no choice but to start raising money and campaigning early and often. Add to this the rigorous primary debate season that has candidates meeting on stage dozens of times only to grossly oversimplify their positions on issues in one-minute sound bites. (Of course, without these "dog-and-pony show" debates, where would the Daily Show and the Colbert Report get their fodder for entertainment?)

Undoubtedly, the primary season is too long. To be viable, it costs too much money and serves as too much of a distraction if the candidate is still holding elected office. Reform is needed to place restrictions on the amount of campaigning, the length of campaigning, and the amounts of money that can be spent. But the system will probably never change for it would require the winner of the race to change the very system that just got him or her elected. Though stranger things have happened, that doesn't sound very likely.

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