The American "System" is Just Fine

It seems that anytime an election fails to deliver the desired result, the losing candidate and/or those running in his or her circle, place the blame on our “system.” I was reminded of this in Sunday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in which Post reporter Calvin Wilson interviews filmmaker Frank Popper, director of “Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?” – the story of first-time politician Jeff Smith’s pursuit of the U.S. Congressional seat left empty by retiring long-time Missouri congressman, Dick Gephardt. Popper claims that “…the core issue of the film…is…the system for electing people to public office is broken.”

Having seen the film and having now read the interview with Popper, I will say that his film is well-done and that Popper is certainly a bright enough guy. But I’ve got to admit I’m struggling with the notion that the process by which we govern our country is broken.

What exactly IS the “system?”

In a nutshell, it’s a representative democracy in which, in essence, the people govern themselves. Novel enough.

That government is divided into a sort of three-legged beast that ideally works to keep itself in check….most brilliant.

It’s only when the system is abused – by money or power or distorted facts – that trouble begins. When this happens, either apathy or fear, or both take over. And at this point, the legislative branch ceases to be … well … not so representative.

In Frank Popper’s film, there are two key scenes: First, the scene in which candidate Smith receives the news that he will NOT receive the endorsement of the St. Louis American (the city’s African-American newspaper), despite years of personal commitment by Smith to the city’s African-American community. Second, the scene in which a woman claims that she’d like to vote for Jeff Smith but didn’t think he could win.

And therein lays the primary culprit – Fear.

Fear on the part of voters to risk being associated with a perceived “loser.”

Fear on the part of the media to stick its neck out now and then, instead of always foregoing the risky choice when it comes to endorsements.

Money is the monster that doesn’t necessarily always have to triumph. In the case of Jeff Smith, it’s safe to say that the lost St. Louis American endorsement probably cost him the election against Russ Carnahan. But it sure as hell wasn’t a “broken system.” (In fact, it WAS the system that allowed a rookie like Jeff Smith to have a shot in the first place.)

No – the system is fine. The problem lies in the execution. This can be corrected by eliminating all political advertising, direct mail, etc. – taking money out of the equation.

This leaves only news coverage and all-out hustle by the candidates to get their message across to voters.

Why not? The worst thing that could happen is you become unhappy with the candidate that won and you vote him or her out in two years. Yes, the VOTE is a powerful thing. And the answer to those who stupidly cry for term limits. But that’s another topic for another time.