I think if US politicians want to get young people to vote, they should change the entire voting system to an “American Idol” format and call it: “American Idol-Political Edition.” Tour the country to find the top candidates by having them do a short audition before a panel, narrow it down to the top choices, then have different political challenges each week and eliminate candidates one-by-one via text messaging. Once it’s down to two candidates, both the traditional polls and the text messaging could be used, so as not to alienate those who don’t yet have a grasp of the new fangle technology.

instant runoff voting

none of the above

voting on saturdays

opening the debates

getting rid of 3rd party obstacles

less bureacracy, more principle

i’ll pass on the rat though, i’m a vegetarian… nothing like the sweet sweet squeal of a carrot in my mouth. “aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!”

I like the American Idol idea. I wonder if, like American Idol, the most entertaining episodes would be the first few where they show all the rejects. I’m sure politician wack-jobs would be even funnier than skatgirl. That way Ross Perot, the Raliens, Kucinich, etc., could get their 15 minutes of fame without mucking up the whole process.

Oh, and gringo’s real ideas are good, too.