The View From Here . . .

By Bob Morgan, Jr.

This is written on Election Day and no attempt will be made to analyze the results of the election. In many ways our election process, with its orderly transition of power, is a very strong testament to our strong democratic traditions and to the rule of law.

Nevertheless, I can't be the only person who enjoys politics but who nevertheless thinks that this election season has gone on for too long. By a conservative estimate, the campaign started immediately after the 2006 Congressional elections, itself a very contentious affair. There were literally scores of debates among candidates now long forgotten (remember Mike Gravel or Tommy Thompson?) as well as the eventual winners, a marathon series of contested primaries which ran from January until May on the Democratic side, followed by the conventions and only then by the very heated (and expensive) actual campaigns.

I have to think that few people are eager for a restart of the national political wars and the 2012 election cycle in 2010. This would essentially transform the system into one in which half of the time in every four year period is campaign season. This is pretty divisive to the body politic and also tends to hamstring government operation. Politicians are rarely willing to make concessions or work across the aisle to formulate good policy if every potentially unpopular decision will be seized upon by the opposition as campaign fodder.

While candidates, of course, have a First Amendment right to conduct their campaigns as they see fit, there are a number of systemic checks that could be considered to shorten the campaign. The most obvious option is to transform and shorten the primary system, both by making it start later (say, April rather than January) and by creating a regional primary system with four primaries. In addition, parties should not sponsor debates until two or three months before the first primary and federal money not be available to candidates until January 1 of election year.

In any event, once we have a winner of the election (hopefully no repeat of 2000), there will be other things to think about without the constant drumbeat of contentious and frequently misleading arguments and divisive "gotcha" moments.

For most people not consumed by politics, there is much in the months ahead to take the place of the constant attack and counterattack. Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and then the whirlwind of the Christmas or Hanukkah and the upcoming New Year. The pro football season promises to make New York fans excited again, with the Giants, coming off an impressive victory in Pittsburgh and drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys, looking as good as anyone in the NFL and the Jets starting to pick up their game, as evidenced by last's Sunday upset win in Buffalo.

Elections are, of course, a testament to our freedom, and vigorous campaigns demonstrate that our democracy is very robust. But, at least for a while, most of us have had a little too much of a good thing.