Presidential Elections as Reality TV

Over 500 million people cast their votes last night to crown Carrie Underwood the newest American Idol. 500 million. That’s more than the population of Canada!
Just over a million people voted in the last presidential election. Sad, considering who the president is matters more for us as a country.

What if we made the candidates for President of the United States competes on a reality show? Would putting the presidential election in the format of Survivor, American Idol, or Big Brother inspire more Americans to get involved in the electoral process?

The candidates would be locked in a house together, no advisors, no handlers, no high level donors. Citizens would be able to vote (only once) each week to kick someone off (like on American Idol) until only one is left. S/he gets to be the next President of the United States.

The candidates would compete in a series of tasks:

• An American history quiz
• Pass a citizenship test
• Recite the Declaration of Independence by heart
• Spontaneous oratory and debate segments
• Town meetings with ordinary citizens
• Moderate a “summit” (a trial run to see how a candidate might fare when actually in negotiations with, for example, Israeli and Palestinian leaders)