that little voice

A sigh of relief.

That is my physical reaction to the end of a marathon election

I’m glad it is over, not that the controversy, the angst, the recounting, the lawsuits have ended, but the actual voting is over. My gosh, I can take a deep breath and perhaps, at least for a few days, think of something other than

The good news is the number of people who cast ballots this year. Voting is such a privilege; it is gratifying to see the spike in citizens exercising their right to select their elected officials.

I’m not going into the results; we all know those results or steps being taken to ensure their accuracy.

What I am thinking about is the time and money spent on elections. Who we elect is the most important decision we make for our republic, but do we have to have campaigns drag on for months and even into years?

Isn’t there a time limit that would garner the same results while not requiring the process to go on and on? It seems the longer the campaigning lingers, the more money is needed to be raised.

And the amount of money invested in campaigns is gigantic, even obscene. The Center for Responsive Politics has estimated $14 BILLION was spent in this election. $14 billion!

“The 2020 election is more than twice as expensive as the runner up, the 2016 election. In fact, this year’s election will see more spending than the previous two presidential election cycles combined,” reports Open Secrets.org (https://wwwopensecrets.org/news/2020/10/cost-of-2020-election-14billion-update4

Money has rolled into both party’s coffers and up and down state and national races, coming from individuals, billionaires and super PACs. This in the middle of a pandemic.

I am blown away by the vast amounts of money raised and spent during this lengthy marathon. Here we are needing money for our schools, our city, county and state infrastructures, hospitals, medical equipment and resources to goes on.

Certainly $14 billion can’t fix all problems, but it could make a dent in helping people who are suffering, in school districts where lack of funds is impeding educational levels, where hospital personnel need protective gear.

And then we, the American people, must endure campaign rhetoric that goes on and on and on.

There are pros and cons to having almost 600 days of campaigning during a presidential race. Some say holding primaries lengthens the process but provide individuals more direct control in selecting our country’s leaders.

Others would argue that the end of one campaign is the beginning of the next election cycle and we all end up exhausted. Extended campaigning also impacts legislative action since politicians must be out garnering votes rather than actually legislating.

We should educate ourselves about both the time and money spent in selecting our political leaders. Is there a better way?

I would argue campaigns should be shorter, and all that money raised and spent could be used to promote better education, health, arts and the lives of millions.