I’m crazy – an Eisenhower Republican. Ike balanced the budget, built the interstates, created NASA, supported civil rights, and kept the top tax rate at 91%. That’s the opposite of Trumpism. Without a party to join, I’m “Undeclared,” as are more than 40% of voters in NH.

The U.S. Constitution doesn’t mention parties; our founders feared their influence. Nothing gets done when teams stay in their end zones and never take the field. Parties are counter-productive and should be abolished. Then folks we elect might think for themselves, and strive together for the good of the country and the American people.

Without parties, eliminate primaries and conventions. And shorten campaigns from four years down to four weeks.

Every candidate could be allotted a half-hour of prime time for their stump speeches, speeches saved at an election website for all voters to reference. Add a televised debate or two – no moderators; let voters evaluate candidates’ people skills.

Make Election Day a national holiday. Voters should rank candidates by preference (Ranked Choice Voting) so we’d never again elect someone earning less than half the votes.

No campaign advertising allowed. Exempt from Truth-in-Advertising laws, ads are free to lie. And no flying around the country for potlucks and rallies. With so little campaign expense remaining, campaigns for presidential and congressional candidates could be publicly funded, instead of wheedling bribes and anonymous money from all over the world.

Get all that done, and who knows? Maybe we’d no longer have the best government money can buy.

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