Town Hall | 'The campaign and nomination process is too long'

Aug. 29—Picking up where we left off last week, Editor Jeff D'Alessio asked another three election experts to answer the question many have asked, given the prospect of a rematch in the 2024 race for president: What needs to change to convince the best of the best to put their names on the ballot?

AMBER McREYNOLDS

2022 UI Alumni Achievement Award recipient, founding CEO of National Vote at Home Institute & Coalition and co-author of 2020's 'When Women Vote'

"I believe that there are significant structural issues with the presidential nomination and election process and these issues are directly related to who runs and the conditions to run.

"First, the campaign and nomination process is too long. Many politicians see this as a full-time job to run for president, and it should not be. There is no reason for the process to last as long as it does. In fact, I have shared the idea of having regional primary dates — dividing the country into four of five regions and having four or five dates for all the primaries to occur.

"Second, many voters are deliberately excluded from the nomination process. There are now more politically independent voters than voters registered with each party. Currently, many states still prevent unaffiliated voters from participating in the nominating process for president.

"Third, since so many voters are now politically independent, it would seem possible for one of them to choose to run. However, ballot-access laws have been designed for and by the two major parties, so it makes it exceedingly difficult for a third-party candidate to run and have any chance of winning beyond being a spoiler.

"Fourth, the plurality voting process to choose a candidate from a wide field makes no sense and needs to be reformed. In 2016, Republicans had a large field of candidates. In 2020, Democrats had a large field. With a large field, ranked-choice voting is essential to ensure the will of the voters is accurately reflected in the results and to ensure that all voices are heard in the process.

"Fifth, money in politics excludes a large number of people. Essentially, because money is such a factor, those with it or with access to it have a significant advantage. Also, the political campaign industry is gigantic and money flows for so many different things during a presidential campaign. The 2020 presidential campaign cost $14.4 billion, according to Open Secrets.

"Sixth, the terms for Congress, Senate and president should be adjusted. I think congressional terms should be changed to four years, with a three-term limit. The Senate can stay at six years with a two-term limit. And president should be one six-year term.

"Finally, politics has become a deeply dirty process. As a parent and single mom to two school-age kids, I'm focused on running my business, making a positive difference in this world and building an awesome life for our little family. This is the way that many people feel and look at politics as a stress to their families.

"It should not be this way. Also, I have said this before, so many people are having a positive impact on the world — in their businesses, in communities, in education, in the nonprofit space, in technology, in the medical field — and they are not elected. I think many of us that are focused on making a difference in our communities, our states, our country and in our world have found ways to do it without being elected."

ANN RAVEL

Chaired Federal Election Commission (2015)

"In order to get the very best candidates, the people in this country must trust in government and have trust in the electoral process. On both sides of the aisle, but for different reasons, people are frustrated with backsliding of our democracy and institutions.

"And despite the defamation settlement with Fox News due to the spreading of falsehoods concerning the Dominion voting machines, social media continues to spread disinformation which people believe.

"In the recent Republican debate, when Chris Christie spoke about the importance of the United States Constitution, he received loud booing from the audience. Thoughtful, moral and ethical people who understand that governing requires compromise may not be able to win for president given the times we are in.

"I admire President Obama's farewell address, in which he said: 'Our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted. All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the task of rebuilding our democratic institutions. When voting rates are some of the lowest among advanced democracies, we should make it easier, not harder, to vote. When trust in our institutions is low, we should reduce the corrosive influence of money in our politics, and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service.'

"Hopefully, such change will enable more good candidates to run for the presidency."

LYNN VAVRECK

UCLA professor of American politics co-authored 'The Bitter End: The 2020 Presidential Campaign and the Challenge to American Democracy'

"Do we lack great candidates for our highest office? I'm not so sure.

"I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'great,' but it seems as if the nominating contests routinely attract highly experienced, serious, hard-working people. There are always governors, senators and House members contesting presidential party nominations — and in the last several decades, we've seen business leaders vying for the slot.

"Most of these people are successful in their previous roles, making them high-quality candidates, I'd argue.

"But maybe you mean something else. Maybe 'great' means inspiring or exciting — literally a great candidate, not a great potential office-holder.

"This is harder. To be good at the job of being president requires a different set of skills than to be good at the job of being an inspirational candidate. So much of what a high-performing president does is bargain and compromise with legislative leaders over policy advances he or she would like to enact that the legislators would not like to enact.

"This is the nitty-gritty of changing the world. It requires creativity but also patience — and while charm and charisma may help, many presidents have gotten their agendas through without these things because they understood what their negotiating partners needed and they figured out a way to get enough of it for them. Others simply intimidated people.

"What a high-performing candidate does is something else entirely: tap into a national moment, meet people where they are and try to bring them, through speech and spectacle, a little closer to a particular view; make them believe they are, or are about to be living in the best of days — or at least better ones than today. There are few of these candidates because there are few of these people in the world, plain and simple.

"So where does that leave us? As a scholar of campaigns, messages and political advertising, I love a good campaign, but I'll take a great president over a great candidate every time."