01-05-2006, 09:52 PM
If a high number of petition signatures were required, say 5,000 to run for senator, that would weed out the fringe candidates with no real support. Limiting campaigning to public access TV debates and candidate statements on the internet would eliminate the expense of jets, hotels, food and staff. If computer voting companies like Diebold would simply open up their code for inspection to ensure fairness we could make decisions on a more democratic basis through direct voting, eliminating at least some of the necessity for representatives, except as watchdogs for the system.