Make politics fun again
Opinion column: The opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of The Examiner
Lately, I find following the national news exhausting. It seems to me that there is no break from conflicting parties hurling insults at each other. Add to that a never-ending stream of doom and gloom statistics on just about whatever topic you care to read about. It is all just so disheartening.
As for politics, one would’ve expected a reprieve from the negative political discourse, at least for a short time, immediately following the last presidential election. Give us a minute to collect our collective breaths. But times, they are a-changin’. Apparently, time cannot be afforded to allow a new administration to actually conduct business and create a track record that will make or break them at the next election cycle. The attacks must be non-stop and obstructions to their progress must be laid as often as possible. Heaven forbid the new group might actually do a good job and improve things for our country. That would limit the opposition’s ability to reclaim the power, something that is completely unfathomable.
Well, if I’m going to be subjected to year-round political campaigning, allow me to suggest a new format to use as we attempt to vet candidates who are vying for public office. Rather than the usual question-and-answer debates that are the norm, I propose that candidates be subjected to truth-or-dare sessions. Have a moderator on hand to ask the questions that must be answered truthfully and without rhetoric or spin - yet another refreshing change from the norm. “Yes” or “no” questions would probably work best in this format. And if the candidate prefers to choose a “dare,” then let the fun begin!
The dares would have to be compelling enough to incentivize the participants to prefer to answer the questions. Dares could include something along the lines of “I dare you to face all of your fellow contenders and give them each a compliment.” Or maybe something more physical, like “I dare you to change your left front tire. It’s looking a bit low.”
There would have to be some way to monitor that the candidates are, you know, telling the truth. Something other than raiding the local police station to borrow their polygraph test machine. Luckily, there is an app for that. I downloaded it this week. It is easy to download and operate and during my quick test runs it proved to be pretty darn accurate.
Conducting political forums in this manner could help weed out the insincere and the honesty-challenged. At a minimum, it would certainly increase the entertainment value. Who knows how many other unintended benefits could come from this sort of format.
If for any reason the truth-or-dare format didn’t work out, I have some ideas for others. One is a variation on tug-of-war and another is a modified spin-the-bottle concept. So many possibilities.
Speaking of debates, you know who really likes debates? Da fishes.
Johnny McNally is Grimes County’s Best Dressed Businessman advocating for Grimes County and writes a bi-weekly column for the Navasota Examiner.