A Modest Proposal: Stop The Campaigns!

Bob Schieffer Says Candidates (And The Rest Of Us) Will Be Best Served If They Give It All A Rest

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

---

So here's where we are in the campaign for the most powerful office in the world:

McCain's man Phil Gramm said America is a nation of whiners and that the economic recession is just in peoples' minds.

McCain said Gramm didn't speak for him. Really? They why was he speaking? I thought they were old friends, and Gramm was a trusted advisor.

And there was Obama man John Kerry saying McCain hadn't learned the lessons of 9/11. Yes, the same John Kerry who seriously thought of asking McCain to be his running mate when he ran for President himself in 2004.

And then along came Jesse Jackson with an observation about Obama that sounded like something out of the Ken Starr report.

Which reminds me, what's the deal with Bill Clinton? Are his feelings still hurt? Will he campaign for Obama if Obama helps the Clintons pay their bills?

And will McCain get better at reading the teleprompter?

We've been treated to endless conversation, speculation and analyses of all these pertinent topics, to the point that a friend of mine said the other day that he thought Obama and McCain would be better served if both of them just suspended all campaigning until Fall, after the nominating conventions.

Just shut it all down - the surrogates, the press conferences, the talking points, the conference calls, all of it. Give all of us a rest.

It's not my idea, but I wish it were! What we've been hearing from both sides lately isn't helping them, or us.

---

E-mail Face the Nation.

[fstop100]

You are right, enough is enough...30 day limits on all campaigns makes sense. Saves a lot of money, and he candidates don''t have as much time to lie and flip flop on their policies! (right obama?)

[keithle1]

He''s got a point.

If you don''t know by now whether you''re voting for Obama or McCain, when will you know? I mean, come on. What are you waiting for?

Why does Obama have to help the Clintons pay their bills? Are they in danger of going on welfare/food stamps by the end of the year?

Everyone who isn''t the candidate needs to shut up until the day after the election. Then you can say whatever is on your mind. Share your pearls of wisdom.
Until then, be quiet!

[ozonmojo]

There is a whole class of media parasites that would suffer a drastic reduction in income,if this idea is taken to its logical conclusion.Jackson''s nuts stuff,for example,has been bread and butter for these creatures for at least a couple of days.By the way,is the job of the President of the U.S still the most powerful in the world as asserted by Scheiffer?I wonder.

[dabsgram]

Amen. It would be a great relief to hear or read abou something else. Too bad it will never come to be.

[bubbabear200]

So McCains buddy has been saying that the economic recession is just in peoples minds.HELLO. Earth to Phil Gramm, please come down to earth.
Phil Gramm says that there is no recession, so thats what we will tell the bank when they come to reo the house and car.

[johnax88]

Fantastic idea. I totally agree. Let both candidates get some rest, be with their families, and develop position papers that are thought out instead of sound bites or off the cuff remarks at a meeting.

[nssherlock1]

Without wars and politics what would the mainstream media have to report? If it''s sleaze or bleeds, it leads.

[dedad1]

now what fun would taking the high road be?

[wisepeace]

Maybe we all need some rest from the society of illusion run by the elite and the media. Since their track record is a disaster for the rest of us and the planet, why should we be listening to their games anyway? I am ready to listen to the first real leader that comes along and I don''t care which party, gender, race, etc. --- someone who cares about the people and the planet for real.

[antoniof123]

My idea shoot all politicians, lawyers, judges, religious leaders and then work on the prisions.

That should just about do it did I forget any other nut case group.

[nativewoman]

Amen, Brother Bob! Shut.it.down!

I think we should pass some new laws:

1) Shorten the campaign time dramatically
2) No sitting Congressional Rep should be allowed to run for another office while they are already "serving" in office.

How can they possibly be performing the job for which they were already elected if they are focused on campaigning for another office?

Out here in the real world, looking for another job on your current employer''s time is grounds for immediate dismissal.

[greeneyes222]

Amen!

[cyberus-2009]

Problem is it will never happen .. even if the candidates shut down their campaigns for a short break the fanatical support groups would continue to throw mud back and forth ...
... which would require a candidate to reply because if they didn''t the media and opposition would accuse them of having something to hide ...
... and a response to mud would require a counter -response from the opposing candidate and viola! Its all on again

[babooph]

The whole election is a sham -Obamas latest senate vote shows there will be no change-the propaganda system pretends there are two sides-B S !!!!!!!

[davidlar2]

The Democrats and Republicans are both all about spin without substance, nonstop Rove and Carville. Look at how Ron Paul was treated in the Republican primaries, dismissed without serious discussion of his viewpoint. And the Democrats had diversity of race and gender but not ideas in their primary, as if race and gender are more important than ideas to discuss.

The Green Party and the Libertarian Party still have the serious dicussions that the Democrats and Republicans lack. Perhaps that is why nobody takes them seriously. Our country has gone down the tubes and we pretend there is nothing to talk about, that everything is fine....

[radiob-2009]

How about they all just drop out of the race along with all 435 congressmen quiting so that we can have honest representation for the people by the people.

[txgrouch2006]

This country is broken, we need a new one.

[standlee5]

The most annoying campaign EVER.

[txgrouch2006]

The SCARY thing about this campaign is that it looks like the next President will be a person who DOESN''T EVEN HAVE ONE FULL TERM IN THE SENATE and who has NO MILITARY SERVICE WHATSOEVER, and he''s beating a SEASONED POLITICIAN WITH SIX TERMS IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE, plus extensive military service including time as a POW.

And WE''RE GLAD because this is BETTER THAN WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED.

We are in deep, deep trouble.

[txgrouch2006]

POLITICAL CARTOON:

a bus careening toward a cliff

far behind the bus, we see Hillary Clinton lying on the side of the road with orbits around her head, after she fell off the bus

close behind the bus, we see McCain upside down falling on his head, palms upturned in puzzlement, after he just fell off the bus

under the bus, we see Bill Clinton with cutters in his hand, cutting the brake lines with a broad grin on his face

in the driver''s seat, we see George W Bush with zzzzz''s coming from his mouth as he''s asleep at the wheel

standing on Bush''s lap, we see a wide-eyed infant Obama, pacifier in mouth, with both hands on the wheel and looking straight forward

in the back of the bus is us, WE THE PEOPLE - putting our heads out the windows and shouting HELLLLLLPPPPPPP!

That would be SO funny.

[standlee5]

tsgrouch06, that was hilarious. I''d love to see that illustrated.

[CarolJWright]

The other alternative is ... MEDIA STOP COVERING THE CAMPAIGN FOR AWHILE, STOP PURSUING THOSE SLIPS OF THE TONGUE. YOU ALL REGROUP and figure how to cover this campaign, our future, with the dignity it should deserver.

[incog-nito]

Yet another self-serving, self-righteous diatribe from the media. They''re the ones making a boatload covering this campaign. They''re the ones parsing candidates'' every word and creating controversy out of nothing. They''re the ones calling it a horse race when they know it''s not even close. Etc. Bob Schieffer is officially just another hypocrite.

[demwatcher]

We have you Democrats/Liberals/Leftists figured out. Your hate spewing monologues are a result of your frustration at being beaten for the past eight years by President Bush AND the knowledge that your candidate does not have a snowball''s chance because he is un-qualified to be president. Your Democrat Congress is the WORST in history with it''s NINE percent approval rating and it''s record of doing NOTHING. They will not stand by their promises that fished your votes to install them into power.

Getting whipped on a regular basis by Conservatives AND your own party tends to sour a puss.

[dremn1]

BRAVO!!!! demwathcer

[randynason]

I find McCain a pathetic letch of a presidential wanna-be. I am disgusted with the way Obama voted for the amnesty bill and schmoozes DNC as* to remain in the lead. Yes, I agree the marathon-like campaigns are grating and irritating.
Let''s stop the freaking campaign and devise a new way to elect our leaders, so that they actually put interests of the people ahead of their own, egocentric ambitions.

[standlee5]

Now Obama wants his fans to write his platform for him. There is something very odd about this campaign. Didn''t Chavez do the same thing. Win on populism then who knows what direction we''ll go.

[oneworldusa]

I agree. Wake me up when VP candidates are chosen.

[Netterz]

I have yet to hear the reasoning of why they started campaigning so early, but agree 200%, that its went on far too long. Listening to 2 years of BS, I am well over it. Have heard so much garbage, lies, and the thought that its going to get alot worse, the closer it gets? UGH....get me a bucket, I think I am gonna hurl.

Great ideas here. Obama and McCain agree to say nothing and Bush clones Congress by doing nothing.

[bm6005]

I''m sure this comment will elicit boo''s and catcalls from the America only crowd but here it goes. In Europe, most campaigns are run for ONLY 3 mos. before the election. That''s more than enough for me. Maybe then we''ll focus on issues instead of the BS spewed by the pols and the media regarding micro-analysis of every word uttered by the candidates!!

[emilymhanson]

I agree completely. In fact, I''d love for there to be new candidates entirely. I don''t like either of them, and at this point I''m considering just casting a protest vote.

[tx_doughboy]

Why does it matter who wins? We are still going to have a bunch of Bozos running Capitol Hill.

[bm6005]

Here''s how we handle this tx-doughboy. We run every incumbent out of office until all the 30 yr, 20 yr, 10 yr incumbents are gone, then we start replacing the entireity of those running for office every re-election period. Stop them from becoming too cosy, etc. There are those who would say that we''d lose the experience. Who frickin'' cares. Are these Bozo''s doing us any good now? No, absolutely not!!! We have a gov''t that seems oblivious to our situation today. What is going to happen when the last of our mfg. goes offshore? Who the h ell is going to be buying anything when they''re not working? Who is going to fund welfare for all of our lower & lower middle class former job holders?

[bm6005]

P.S. We can hang any of the leftover incumbents from the lamposts in DC to speed up the process!!

[alanrobisch]

This should be a campaign of issues and ideas not who makes the biggest blunders.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by koko98 at 02:43 PM : Jul 14, 2008
+ report abuse

Amen

[tksk53]

GOOD JOB BOB
WRITE IT AS IT REALLY IS AND DON''T MAKE IT UP ON THE FLY
TKSK53

[txgrouch2006]

Vote out all members of congress born 1946-1957.