Day 6:

To keep me going day to day, I partake in guilty pleasures: cigars, single malts, American Gladiators reruns, etc. Last night's guilty pleasure was going back for a third helping of my wife's chicken enchiladas (with ass-kicking hot, homemade pico de gallo to boot). For a Scottish/Irish girl she certainly has a streak of Latin American blood, especially when it comes to cooking.

Now, to follow up with my political rant yesterday I offer a solution to the problem of the endless, ineffectual election process we have in place now.

Based on my current law school endeavors, I got to thinking how efficient the application process is, especially for top schools like Yale, Harvard and the like. They can whittle 10,000 applications down to 200 successful matriculates over the course of months. So why do we need 2 years of issue spewing, mudslinging and slanted punditry to choose from a pool of under a dozen candidates?

I propose an elimination round prior to the primaries (I guess they wouldn't be primaries anymore would they). Those interested in running for president must apply by submitting a resume, a personal statement (2 pages max, double-spaced, 12 point font), and maybe a short video response to one or more prompts. The average American could easily browse 20-30 applicants in one evening and make an informed decision. After the vote, the top few candidates move on to the primaries. Then they can proceed with all the ad campaigns, debates and fund raising.

This cut and dry approach levels the playing ground by eliminating fund raising, at least initially. It also forces candidates to commit their ideals and achievements to paper. Later on in the election, one could always refer back to the original application for the truth.

The idea is by no means complete, or foolproof for that matter, but I think it would allow for higher quality but less popular candidates to have shot, eliminate fund raising as a prerequisite for success, and clear the muck surrounding the real important information needed for a voter to make a decision.