The Everlasting Campaign

Well, the long awaited moment has arrived. Wait, it hasn’t actually been all that long has it? Of course you know what I’m talking about, it’s not Christmas, nor Easter, and not even your birthday. We’re gearing up for the 2012 presidential election. So for the next few months we get to listen to:


Those who are running, but say that they’re not.

Those who are ‘thinking about it”, setting up exploratory committees and appearing at fundraisers

Those who really aren’t running but say that they are, just to keep things interesting,

Those who really aren’t running, but like to hear themselves talk.

And those who are definitely putting themselves forward as a viable candidate.

And now that the Royal Wedding has come and gone, maybe we need this kind of intrigue to keep reporters gainfully employed.

BUT, here’s my take.

Many of those who have expressed an interested in being their party’s candidate are already employed by that party: Representatives, Senators, Governors, and yes even the President. Now they want to not do their job until Nov of next year (that’s a year and a half) as they go out and try to convince the nation to hire them.

To put it into perspective, I pastor a small church, how happy do you think the congregation I serve would be if from now until next November I was only in the pulpit a few times (well, maybe some of them would be happy at that) because I was traveling around the country, visiting other churches trying to find a job at the denominational level? Of course I would still want the title, and the paycheck, I just wouldn’t be doing the job.

Or think of it this way. The president has declared his intention to run for a second term. As we get closer and closer to the election, he spends less and less time being president and more and more time being a candidate. He stops being president to spend time telling the country why he should be president for another 4 years.

Here’s my take: the campaign season runs way too long. Set campaign limits - Campaigning for the party nomination starts 1 June and the party conventions are held at the end of July. Then the actual campaign lasts 3 months: Aug, Sept and Oct, with the election in early November. Who knows more people might actually vote since they wouldn’t be so tired of hearing about politics?