Partying Campaigning Like It’s 1999 1899*
Maybe 25th U.S. President William McKinley had it right: forget the ennui and tedium of modern political campaigns — the years-long scrounging for campaign cash; repetitive debates; blathery “Town Halls”; etc.
Instead, candidates should steal a page from McKinley’s playbook: campaign from their front porch.
A virtual, 21st-century porch.
19th Century Politics, 21st Century Technology
Thanks to modern technology such as Skype, video conferencing, and streaming, high-speed Internet, candidates can reach veritable millions without ever leaving home.
And they should.
If the world is as parlous a place as all the candidates say it is, why on earth are they — the supposed elite of this country’s 
leadership — spending literally years of their lives campaigning for office? See also, “Running for President (& Running & Running).”
Instead of working to solve said problems.
Plan B: 3-Step Program
The alternative to such a silly, dilatory (and corrupt) process?
A focused, serious national discussion.
Perhaps something like this 3-step approach:
Step #1: declare a 90-day campaign period (isn’t that similar to the U.K’s?);
Step #2: Dedicate a big slice of the PUBLIC spectrum, temporarily, for all the serious candidates to be heard. See, “Capitalists and (Political) Campaigns.”
Voila! No more corrupting political cash (see, “Proposal: Whomever Raises the Most Money Wins. Literally“).
Step #3: Pick the best candidate.
Too Short?
While a modern presidential campaign should be short, it shouldn’t be too short.
The optimal duration?
Just long enough to winnow out the Ross Perot’s and Herman Cain’s — political flashes-in-the-pan who didn’t hold up to extended scrutiny.
P.S.: I suppose in the case of now-disgraced former Senator and Presidential candidate Jon Edwards, that would argue for a very long campaign, indeed (Edwards managed to hide an affair and out-of-wedlock child with his “videographer” for quite some time).
*The year McKinley famously campaigned for reelection from his Ohio front porch was 1900, not 1899.
