The problem is that it takes too much money to run for president.

[milestogo]

If you have a lot of money, like Bloomberg or Steyer, you can buy visibility. It still costs an awful lot of money to do that. And it seems wasteful and self-serving to do that for more than a few months.

If you start running for office an entire election cycle ahead of time, like Sanders, you can build a network and buy visibility. It just doesn't seem reasonable for most candidates to start running for office that far ahead of an election. Who wants to run a 5 or 6 year campaign?

If you are like one of the many qualified Democrats we had in this race from the beginning, such as Kamala Harris, the financial considerations are just overwhelming. Even if you are well known and highly visible like Elizabeth Warren, the need for money is just too much.

This cycle some really good candidates were eliminated not because they weren't good enough to be president, but because they didn't have the money to get their message out.

The amount of money spent on the presidential election doubles every cycle. We are just about at the point where it isn't going to be feasible for a qualified non-billionaire to run for the presidency. Unless they have fantastic name recognition or have spent half a decade building a movement, they don't stand a chance of getting the nomination.

This is a crazy way to run a democracy.

By the time I get to vote in the primary, I will probably only have a couple of choices. I would have liked to have more options. Too bad we can't all vote on the same day.

[Progressive2020]

1. I Agree

We need Pubic Finance, maybe a matching program. Also shorten the election season and thereby reduce the cost/money, energy and time it takes to run for office. Maybe a one day National Primary, proportional voting, no Electoral College. And make Election Day a holiday to get out the vote without having to spend inordinate amounts of money to do so.

[PatrickforO]

2. Capitalism, oligarchy twists and perverts everything good.

Everything is monetized, commoditized. We live in a world of profit over people and until we change that, democracy will ever be in danger of extinction.