In the old days, the pool of Presidential candidates was limited by the prerequisite of being a Senator, Governor, and/or Vice President. A famous actor like Ronald Reagan needed to take the intermediate step of being elected Governor of California. Automobile executive George Romney still had to punch his ticket as Governor of Michigan. First Lady Hilary Clinton had to add Senator from New York to her resume. But Donald Trump demonstrated that in the age of social media, a candidate can bypass the stranglehold of the political machinery that controlled paths, access, and funding. Being an outsider to a system widely viewed as corrupt can actually be a positive. So the Republicans in 2016 and now the 2020 Democrats field more than twenty candidates each. You can be a mayor of Miramar, Florida, or South Bend, Indiana. You can be an author of spiritual books or the creator of a nonprofit fellowship program. If Trump is reelected in 2020, each party will probably see twice as many candidates competing in 2024. We should develop a debate playoff system. We could qualify 64 candidates and have a double elimination debate bracket, two candidates facing off at a time. The tournament could entertain for many months. Seedings could be by age. Bernie Sanders will be 83 in 2024 and Joe Biden turns 82, so they might be the top two seeds. Betting revenues would be immense. Candidates could select speechwriters, fundraisers, and other campaign staffers in a televised draft over several days. Hopefully I will become famous for coming up with this idea.
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Suicide Squeeze 