Why Are American Presidential Campaigns Endless?

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Canada’s take less than three months.
In Mexico, even counting their “pre-campaign” season, the whole thing is over in about five months.
U.K.? Less than five months.
Japan - about two WEEKS
Australia- about five weeks.

Here in the good ole U.S of A., we start declaring and polling and trolling and doing “listening tours” and fundraising and campaigning for president practically the day after our fresh new president is sworn in. Hopefuls announce their intentions hundreds of days before any voting occurs. Trump declared for re-election the day after Inauguration Day.

It’s been like that for awhile here; made more extreme by advances in communication technology. But my question is, why?

We HATE politicians. There are almost as many slimy politician jokes as there are slimy lawyer jokes. We generally regard them as dishonest and untrustworthy. We are very dubious of people who have done nothing but politics and haven’t worked in the “real world”. As these campaign seasons drag on, bitter complaints about the process and the participating characters are
ubiquitous.
If we hate politicians and distrust politics so much, why do we in the US spend so much time and treasure steeped in an obsessive campaign kabuki?

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Type: Question • Score: 8 • Views: 535 • Replies: 17

@snood,

I think it's fear and resentment and also the media treats it like a sporting event.

1 Reply

@glitterbag,

Quote:

the media treats it like a sporting event.

It does. And the reason it does is viewer capture, thus money from advertisers.

Now, look at the amount of money being spent by Bloomberg alone. And that's a small portion of total money being spent over the last two or three months only. So it is many, many billions of bucks the media derives from extended election cycles.

And the media is just one of a large array of entities who make tons of dough. Add in the countless consultancies involved and all the things they do and the people they employ. Add in the production entities crafting and designing ads to be shown or read. Etc etc.

Elections are a huge industry. That's the key reason election finance reform is now close to impossible.

1 Reply

@snood,

As an Aussie I've wondered that too.
It's always seemed like as soon as one of your elections is over you all start talking about the next one.

1 Reply

@cherrie,

As an American, it's exhausting.

0 Replies

Parliamentary elections are primarily contests among political parties, while presidential elections are primarily contests among individual candidates.

In presidential elections like in the USA (France only has a semi-presidential election) you've got some uncertainty over the identity of the candidates.

Anywhere else, the programs of the parties are generally known.

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@snood,

Five months seems like an awfully long time. Although politicking happens all year round proper campaigning doesn't start until the date is announced, usually 4-6 weeks previous.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

Ya mean, it's going to get worse?

1 Reply

@roger,

I think you're very cautious about fiddling with what's already established. We had a similar thing over here in 1832 when the Reform Act was passed. Lots of people thought it would lead to the collapse of society.

0 Replies

@blatham,

Not to mention how presidential campaigns juice the economies of New Hampshire and Iowa.

1 Reply

@jespah,

Hi Jes

You're pointing to something I don't actually grasp. Could you flesh that out for me?

2 Replies

@blatham,

I don't know either but I can have a guess. If the aforementioned States are the first to announce their nominations the resultant media circus descending on them can be a boost.

I can't talk for Jes, it's just what I got.

1 Reply

@blatham,

Oh they buy food, gas, etc. during the campaign in teeny towns which don't normally get tourism. Although a lot of it goes to the parties, there is definitely spending when there wouldn't be. See: https://www.nhpr.org/post/campaigns-ramp-spending-nh-and-political-insiders-reap-benefits#stream/0

1 Reply

@snood,

snood wrote:

We HATE politicians. There are almost as many slimy politician jokes as there are slimy lawyer jokes. We generally regard them as dishonest and untrustworthy.

Nah, we hate other people's politicians. People routinely poll that they don't trust Congress, but really, highly trust their congressman. That's true at all levels. Not a Trump fan out there that would say that Trump is untrustworthy. It's all about hating the other.

1 Reply

@jespah,

It's a good point. I had not even thought of it.

0 Replies

@izzythepush,

Yes. They do fight for placement in the sequence.

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@engineer,

engineer wrote:

snood wrote:

We HATE politicians. There are almost as many slimy politician jokes as there are slimy lawyer jokes. We generally regard them as dishonest and untrustworthy.

Nah, we hate other people's politicians. People routinely poll that they don't trust Congress, but really, highly trust their congressman. That's true at all levels. Not a Trump fan out there that would say that Trump is untrustworthy. It's all about hating the other.

I agree that hating the other side is generally a baked-in part of our current politics, but I still hold to the fact that a certain holding-of-the-nose is a characteristic even of our relationships with those politicians considered friendly to our causes. Just because we need politicians to represent us in this system doesn’t erase (what I’d argue is) an almost instinctive distrust of those promising to put chickens in our pots.

Anyway my point was that even with all that low regard of politicians we still focus our gaze on them for years-long campaigns. Why do youthink we do it?

1 Reply

@snood,

Quote:

we still focus our gaze on them

Look away.

0 Replies

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