OPINION:
In “Can’t we do better?” (Web, April 5), Cal Thomas deplores the way we elect our presidents. He says we need ideas for improving the system. Well, I have two.
First there’s the quality of the candidates. This nation has always had outstandingly capable people in it, yet the majority of the 44 presidents we have elected in our 240-year history have not been among them. No more than 10 of our presidents have been what anyone would call our best and brightest. That’s a bad average, and a good sign that the system is flawed.
A further sign we need a change comes from the 12 presidents we have had who were vice presidents first. This group includes one or two mediocre politicians, as does the other 32, but on average these men performed better as presidents than did the average. Although many entered the White House when their president could not serve out his term, that’s no way to select presidents routinely. Still, the able record in office of former vice presidents suggests that nominees, when choosing running mates, know better than the voters who our best people are.
Each party should have primary elections in which voters select a number of candidates. Then, instead of “debates,” all candidates so chosen should be sequestered and tasked with deciding the party’s nominee (who can but does not have to be from among themselves). When white smoke goes up the flue, the party has a nominee, and with luck, consensus and a path to unity.
Mr. Thomas mentions all too briefly the amount of time and money spent on campaigns. Every aspirant to elective office who spends money on campaigning should pay tax on it, separately and in addition to personal-income tax. It should be stipulated that all revenue from this tax go to paying down public debt. Any other use should be strictly prohibited.
Taxation would cast campaign finances in a brighter light and might even shorten campaigns. It seems worth a try. One early dividend from the idea could come this year in seeing if any of the presidential candidates proposes it.
JOHN S. MASON JR.
Alexandria
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