So, there's discussion of the M-F act in the 2008 election thread. RTM brought up the first attack against it that isn't just "first amendment!", and it's letting me rethink my stance on it.
But in general, how would you like to see campaign advertising handled? Good as is? Ban it all? Give everyone in the country two minutes of air time?
I'd prefer to have all television and radio advertising banned (possibly Internet ads, too? Damn New Media...). Yes, this is draconian. No, I don't care. Radio and especially television spots are about the worst form of political discourse because you achieve more with a snappy soundbite that means nothing than actual substantial debate.
Debates would be in the form of written exchanges, Lincoln-Douglas style. People could post their ideas and stances in writing (as a very nice bonus, it's a lot cheaper to campaign by flier and website than TV ads). If it's really necessary to let the illiterates follow along, you could have readings of the written stuff on the news or posted on your campaign site or something.
I'd also have these rules apply to people outside the campaign trying to support candidates. No Swift Boaters talking garbage, no unions telling you to vote or you're fired, and hell, any church caught telling the congregation to support a particular person gets their tax-exempt status revoked.
Other ideas? Pages-spanning arguments against mine?
Well, if I could do whatever I wanted it'd be pretty close to your setup. Except that I don't see the reason that they have to be done in writing. As long as it was moderated well I would be fine with radio and television debates. Standard political ads would be killed, though I would keep political cartoons on the table because they're historically important, and newspapers and the internet could do whatever the hell they wanted to because one isn't important enough to matter and the other one is virtually impossible to regulate.
Well, I'd be more for televised debates if the moderators weren't so incredibly bad at it.
Plus, written debates favour thought-out replies over a quick wit.
And yeah, the important thing is to keep ALL ads out of radio and TV, since those two media are just so good at brainwashing and propaganda.
