The Best Driver

In auto racing, the spectators focus almost exclusively on the cars because the drivers sit obscured from their observation by sheet metal and speed. However, at the end of the race when the victor emerges from the car in the winner’s circle, all attention shifts to that one triumphant  driver. What remains hidden from the view to all those not directly connected to the race is the preparation of the car and the crew responsible for its mechanical performance. Normally when a driver wins a race, he/she thanks their pit crew and mechanics for the work they did setting up the car. Along with the public praises of a select few I am sure there are rewards handed out to each member of the racing team. The loyal fans and interested spectators receive an obligatory wave and nothing more. Behind the victorious scene the driver knows that the preparation of the car for that particular track and the specific racing conditions of the day played a major role in their victory. They are also aware of the reality that if another driver had been in their car, they would have probably won the race. 

Along time ago, while flipping through the channels on a boring Saturday afternoon I happened upon the beginning of an auto race. The announcers were explaining that the event was going to be held with a very different set of parameters than a normal race. Each driver was going to be issued a car that was identical in make and model and that all the racing vehicles were going to be prepared exactly the same. The idea was that if the cars were all identical in type and preparation, the race would reveal who was truly the best driver. A novel idea which created an element of intrinsic fairness to the contest.

The flaws in our current political system have been exposed in recent history. Human weakness, ignorance of the public, and the lust for power have caused a twisting of the political process to suit the Democratic and Republican Parties. It is this two-party dominant system that is the cause of the partisan stagnation of government. Like many people I have a list of changes I would like implemented to our current system of government. I would support a better defining of free speech and the rights concerning gun ownership. I would love to see the Electoral College abolished. I would support a new legislative mechanism to govern the selection and appointment of Supreme Court Justices. I would like to see term limits lifted from the office of President and then mandated for Members of Congress. But these are issues that require Constitutional ratification; even the mention of amending the Constitution causes most people to cringe and then pay homage to the founding fathers. These types of changes, which in my opinion, seem necessary and obvious, remain several bridges too far but we could make one change that would dramatically impact the political landscape of this country and thus begin the crossing of those bridges. We could outlaw all forms of private campaign financing.

As a country we have been indoctrinated into a belief that our two political parties, Democratic and Republican, know what is best for us as a whole. They lead us to believe that we are an essential part of the selection process of our leaders by allowing our participation in the primaries. But the system of choice is already heavily weighted in favor of a select few with access to Party financial support and media access. In the end we are left with choosing between the two candidates that have been prescribed for us by two controlling political Parties. What if it could be legislated that Presidential and Congressional campaigns could no longer receive any private financial support? If the two parties, Republican and Democrat, were no longer able to control our choices as voters because of a vast financial superiority over any non-affiliated candidates. Perhaps criteria could be established in which persons who reached a certain number of signatures supporting their candidacy would then receive equal government funding and media access to present themselves to the voters. This would allow for society at large to substantially affect the structure and equality of each individual campaign. The eliminating of funding for Presidential and Congressional campaigns from private sources and political parties would establish a more level playing field for each candidate’s bid for public office. 

Although most of us live in a state of constant frustration, we have begrudgingly accepted two Party politics and the environment of political gridlock. In this scenario we become the victims. When there are only two forces in opposition to each other a stalemate is often the result. Unlike in war in which stalemate produces massive casualties and eventually destroys the resolve of the combatants our two-party system only injures the citizens; the elected politically entrenched adversaries live in a state of calm privilege. If we were to take away their financial power over the system, the Democratic and Republican parties would no longer be protected from the harm of their personal war. If all private funding was deemed illegal each established candidate would enter the race with only their record and resume. Challenges could be forcefully made from everywhere and by anyone producing a new state of instant accountability. We, the people, would then be free learn about and subsequently choose candidates that we wanted to lead us and not be forced to accept the choices being fed to us by two self-serving political machines.

The analogy I put forth at the beginning of this essay deals with a car race. Who eventually prevails in that contest does not affect the lives of the spectators in any real way. At the end of the race the winner has plenty of people to thank and reward but none of these actions causes harm to others not connected to their team. Our government officials of high office are winning elections not because they are the best person for the job but because of their party affiliation and the financial backing that comes with it. Much to the detriment of society, at the end of an election, the winner has select number of people to thank and others who are expecting a reward. The vast majority of voters, who are not part of that small privileged group, are left hoping and begging for a benevolent government. This flawed system has forced us to select a party not a leader; a person but not necessarily the best person for the job. To bring the auto race analogy to full absurdity, it is like a contest in which one driver is in a car while the others are riding tricycles. The winner is a forgone conclusion, but this ridiculously unbalanced race does nothing to answer the ultimate question, “Who is the best driver?”.