What iT was, was democracy

One must wonder what our country's governing system looks like to an outsider observing our political process at work for the first time. I am reminded of Andy Griffith and his classic comedy routine called, "What it was, was football." At the end of his presentation, he concluded that football was a bunch of fellows fighting over a pumpkin while being supervised by several convicts. In truth, had he applied his simple logic to our election process he might have been pretty close to right.

In our history we used to have a political party convention in August of each election year where a presidential candidate would be nominated. That candidate then would campaign for the next three months until Election Day in November. On the day after the election, everything would go back to normal in the news media while we awaited Inauguration Day in January, when the newly elected president would take office. Today, with party primaries in multiple states and delegates pledged to various candidates months before the election, the party nomination is secured before the convention ever meets. Unfortunately, the poor candidates suspend their lives, spend millions of dollars and travel from state to state for a year and more before the election to attempt to gather enough delegate votes to be a viable party representative at next November's election. And, our airwaves are cluttered up for months with all of that rhetoric, much of it very negative.

How do other countries do it? There are about as many approaches as there are countries. In England, Canada, India and other Parliamentary democracy countries, their chief executive officer, called a prime minister, is chosen from the top leadership of the political party in power after the elections are over. In short, the people elect the party, the platform, the policies, and then the party selects the administrator most qualified to carry out those platforms and policies for the country.

Despite the efforts of U.S. political parties to establish a platform that will express their philosophy to the people, it all seems to get lost in the rhetoric of the campaign. More and more we hear a candidate say, "If I am elected president, I will do this or I will do that." His self-serving comments are without regard for the fact that no one in Washington, D.C., does anything alone. The successful president is one who can convince others his or her perspective is the right direction for the country and enlists them to carry that message to Congress, where the laws for governance of the country are created.

I'm sure Winston Churchill was right when he said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." But, as my father used to say, "What a mess."