Can we talk about the fact that our two main senate candidates here in NC are set to spend $250,000,000 on this campaign?

First, spending this sort of money is absurd. In fact, I might even be able to be convinced that it is sinful, especially in the middle of a pandemic. 1/11

Second, I don't know anyone that is overly enthused about the wall to wall ads that we are all subjected to not only on the TV, but now even on streaming services like YouTube.

Third, none of this spending is telling us what these two men actually think. In fact, Tillis 2/11

doesn't even have a "policies" or "priorities" section on his website. Cunningham isn't much better. What he has is truncated pablum. I see no evidence from either campaign that leads me to think that either would be a leader for NC in the US Senate, birddogging the issues 3/11

that truly matter to NC familes. As far as I can tell the argument for both is "vote for me so my party can have control of the Senate" which is, frankly, a piss-poor reason to vote for anyone.

Fourth, can we all acknowledge that forcing candidates to raise these absurd 4/11

amounts of money is bad for the Republic and works to prevent the real work of legislating from happening?

Fifth, there are two other candidates on the ballot, one for the Libertarians and one for the Constitution party. There is simply no way a third-party voice can 5/11

be heard above the torrent of all of this money.

I know that some are going to disagree with me, but money, especially political donations, isn't speech. Speech is speech. Money is influence and power. I know that and you know that. That this level of money is 6/11

being spent is an indication of the rot that rests at the center of the Republic and her democratic systems.

I don't know that I, or any other one person, has all of the answers. One might be to finally pass the Congressional Apportionment Amendment, 7/11

originally proposed by James Madison in 1789 as part of the Bill of Rights, that would set and limit the number of people a member of congress could represent. In doing so Madison believed, and I do as well, that this would ensure that the members of the lower house 8/11

would be more responsive to the constituents that were sending them to Congress and limit the power of what we now call special interests.

We must also, esp. here in NC, radically change the rules for ballot access to allow third parties, independents, and just those 9/11

without deep pockets to be a part of our electoral system. Our Republic will only be healthier for the inclusion of more, richer, and more diverse voices.

Finally, we all need to stop allowing elections and governance to be our entertainment and insist that our elected 10/11

officials, at *all* level, do thier dang jobs. Don't grandstand. Don't for hunting for the soundbite.

Govern. Legislate. Be responsive to the vox populi.

And for God's Sake (literally) don't spend 1/4 billion dollars on a senate race! /end