Does anyone else think the extremely long length of our presidential campaigns is a major reason

[mtnsnake]

why this country is so divided and hateful?

Does anyone else think that the length of presidential elections/campaigns could be one of the factors that contributed to our loss?

When Hillary was so far ahead in all the polls at the beginning of the campaign, you just knew that there were way too many months left in the campaign for her to be able to hold that kind of a lead. You just wanted it to be over right then and there. Too much time for lies to take hold. Too much time for the other side to play their dirty tricks. Too much time for the media to change everything. Way too many months of sheer miserable torture, stress, and frustration.

After the long drawn-out wars of the primaries, wouldn't you think that we could wrap up the election in a much shorter time than we do? People in Canada & other countries cannot believe how long our presidential campaigns last.

And why do we need 3 debates? Why not just have one debate and get it over with. Why do they even call them debates? The debates are a fucking joke because they are not really debates at all. It's absolute torture to watch them sitting up there never actually answering the questions but instead giving rehearsed speeches about something irrelevant to the question that was asked of them. It's almost as bad as watching the last 2 minutes of a close basketball game that ends up taking 45 minutes.

I can understand that there were reasons why our elections were set up in the way they were ages ago when candidates went from town to town by horse and buggy to get their message out, but times have changed. Now we've got fucking twitter to get the word out in a nanosecond.

I don't know if Congress will ever consider doing anything to stop the bleeding, but the longer the elections last, the more hateful and divided this nation becomes.

[JHan]

1. debates need a new format, and out of the hands of networks looking for profit..

the campaign should be shorter as well..

I think I aged 10 years this year..

[stone space]

2. A 3 week campaign season would have seemed too long this time around. (nt)

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. You mean endless, right?

Yes, they are far too long.

[HailToTheDaleks]

4. Parliament

The Brits and other Commonwealth nations, by law, limit thei campaigning to a few months. I like that. Overall I think a parliamentary system is better, anyway.

[LostOne4Ever]

5. Our election and primary season are both WAY TOO FRIGIGN LONG! nt

[meow2u3]

6. I think it's more a matter of gerrymandering and the extreme polarization of the parties

Repukes are getting more and more far-right extremist to the point of being openly hostile to the Constitution and democracy whereas Democrats are becoming increasingly more progressive to the point of shrinking the tent and risking pushing out SCEP (socially conservative economic progressive) voters. Neither party is trying to reach out to the middle anymore IMO--and they wonder why turnout has plummeted.

Another reason is the decades-long repig crime wave with seemingly no end in sight: the voter suppression, voter intimidation, collusion with the MSM, etc. that has gone unnoticed, let alone unpunished. It's high time we repeatedly expose until we're blue in the face the pervasive repunk crime wave that has been permeated every institution of this country until the media finally grows a spine and reports it as the scandal it is instead of ignoring it as if there were nothing wrong with it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I sure don't think it helps.

This particular campaign was unusually miserable, but regardless, it's ridiculous to have these things drag on for up to two years. Nobody benefits from these marathons except media outlets who sell advertising spots. Limit the primaries to maybe five months, beginning with the candidates' announcements of their candidacies and ending with the conventions; and then no more than four months for the GE. Get it all done and over with in nine months. In England, campaigning for parliamentary elections is limited to about a month, which probably isn't enough time for our much larger country, but both the duration and the expense of our election campaigns is just ridiculous.

[guillaumeb]

8. In 2015, Stephen Harper called for a new election to be held 11 weeks after the call.

This is the longest ever campaign in Canadian history. 36 days is the minimum period that must elapse between losing a vote or calling for elections.

So yes, US elections are never ending and ridiculously long.

[aidbo]

9. It takes a while to spend $1 billion on advertising. (Or however much it actually was) Nt.

[riverbendviewgal]

11. Canada is much better

We usually have 33 days, the last one was 77 days. We thought it too long.
American elections make money for the media and advertise agencies.

[YvonneCa]

12. Yes. Primaries should be shortened..

.. to be three months or less. Same for general.
The American people would be the beneficiaries. Cable channels would lose major $$$. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[Takket]

13. absolutely

the primary and election seasons are absurd and they interfere with the operation of the country. a president basically only serves 2.5 years now before all attention is paid to the next election.

also this nonsense of states holding primaries over the course of months is silly. voters are constantly influence by what is happening in other states. everyone should get to make their case and then vote on the same day. and in the internet age, where every candidates position is on the internet, we should be campaigning less, not more!!!!!! do i really need CNN to follow Hillary from Cali to Arizona to Michigan to New Hampshire so i can hear the same speech 4 times?????

i would propose this:

July: Everyone who wants to run says so. party leaders (let's say a group of 100 or so, chosen by some means), rank the candidates by their preference from most preferred to least preferred. The top 4 most preferred run in the primary. They have 2 months to make their case to the people, which gives them enough time to visit every state.

September 1: Primary day. all 50 states + territories vote. Proportional delegates with "automatic runoff" voting where voters can, if they want to, list their 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th most preferred candidate. The most preferred candidate is the nominee. No more superdelegates.

No more convention. They are just pep rallies. The candidate can give a speech wherever they choose to formally accept the nomination and/or name their VP. The parties can have air time to present their platforms in lieu of convention coverage but i would much rather see this done by the nominee and the party chairman alone on camera speaking candidly to the people rather than a convention hall.

mid September-October: Campaigning and debates.

November: election.

That's 4 months for the whole process.

[mtnsnake]

14. Yup, there is no reason they can't operate in the manner you're suggesting

Anyone with any common sense at all knows that your suggestions make a lot more sense than the way the campaigns are set up now. It's probably one of the few changes that voters on either side of the fence would love to see happen.