Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, spoke at the Rotunda yesterday about solving the fundamental issues plaguing our current campaign system.
Forbes, a presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 elections, spoke to an audience of 100 students, faculty and Charlottesville residents. The speech kicked off this year's National Symposium on Presidential Selection sponsored by the Center for Governmental Studies.
The symposium was telecast over the Internet and will hopefully be published after its completion, said center Chief of Staff Alex Theodoridis.
Forbes spoke about the national primaries, campaign finance and the Electoral College.
Most citizens have become estranged from the political process, Forbes said.
As technology increases and the Welfare State consumes our lives, the "political middleman" is cut out and politics become more impersonal, he said.
The primary process is unfair because it favors the incumbent and is sharply disparate from the "American way," Forbes said.
He said he would like to see the introduction of two to three primaries per week, rather than having Super Tuesday, the day when many states hold their primaries.
"The challenger has difficulty fighting primaries throughout the country in one day...stretching out the process would allow challengers and outsiders to compete on a national level," Forbes said.
If an incumbent is established, he is in a position to compete nationally as well as in many states simultaneously, allowing for an unfair advantage on Super Tuesday, he said.
With respect to campaign finance, the excessive number of rules and regulations "breed disrespect and cynicism," ultimately leading to corruption and immorality, he added.
"The government does too much," Forbes said. "We're asking more of politics than politics can deliver, resulting in a series of disappointments."
Forbes said he believes the government's attempts to improve the present system of reforms are futile.
The reforms are "a perversion of the process ... we need to go in the opposite direction," he said.
As long as donations are fully disclosed, Forbes said he believes there should be few restrictions upon them.
Forbes also gave his support to the Electoral College.
Forbes said he believes it forces the candidate to wage a nation wide campaign, rather than focusing upon more heavily populated states.
This national aspect simultaneously reinforces the localized issues of each individual state, he said.
"For all of its flaws, the Electoral College works," he added.
In closing, Forbes briefly touched upon term limits and the media's over-involvement in the political process.
Through the symposium, the center hopes "to impact the national discourse on how we choose a president," Theodoridis said.
"This was an outstanding start for the symposium ... we want students to see a real-life view of politics in an academic setting," said Larry J. Sabato, a government professor and director of the center.
"He was much more well-spoken than I thought," second-year College student Peter Andres said.
Former presidential candidates Michael Dukakis and Eugene McCarthy will also speak as part of the symposium.
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