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454 Days: Understanding America's Ridiculous Political Campaigns

2015-08-11 (said on 2015-08-10 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 1 day later) · explainer · John · 3:30 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook

John argues that US presidential campaigns, far longer and costlier than other democracies', once helped underdogs like Kennedy but now buy little but crowded-out governing, so he pledges to ignore the 2016 race until 100 days before Indiana's primary.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The 2016 US presidential election is 454 days away: a baby not yet conceived will be six months old by the vote

00:00:35 — Campaign lengths compared: UK, Canada, other democracies; US primaries primer; 23 times longer and 40 times costlier than the UK

  • ★★ John says campaign cycles are getting longer worldwide, but in the UK people only start paying proper attention five weeks before the election, when the Queen dissolves Parliament. — 00:00:35 · United Kingdom
  • ★★ John says Canada's 2015 campaign period is 78 days, among the longest in Canadian history and, not coincidentally, the most expensive; he wishes for 78 days. — 00:00:45 · Canada
  • ★★ John says none of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Nigeria or Australia has campaign cycles lasting longer than 100 days. — 00:00:55 · Australia
  • ★★ In a primer for non-Americans, John says most US states hold primary elections five to ten months before the election, where Republican and Democratic voters choose their party's candidate. — 00:01:03 · Republican Party
  • ★★★ John says the whole US process takes about 23 times longer than the UK's and costs 40 times more ('so that's nice'). — 00:01:18 · United Kingdom

00:01:24 — How it happened: undemocratic candidate selection, then primaries; Kennedy's early 1960 declaration; the case for long campaigns

  • ★★★ John says for most of American history the president wasn't really elected democratically: most people (women, non-white people) couldn't vote, and Congress or party powers chose the candidates. — 00:01:28 · United States Congress
  • ★★ John says that as more people could vote and primaries gained traction, John F. Kennedy made history in January 1960 by declaring his candidacy very early, almost a full year before the election. — 00:01:44
  • ★★ John says Kennedy, being Catholic, could not have become president under the old system, but voters liked him more than the Democratic establishment did, so he became the nominee and president. (playful) — 00:01:54
  • ★★★ John says this is the argument for a long campaign: it lets underdogs build momentum and so makes the process more democratic. — 00:02:06

00:02:13 — The case against: doubled length, soaring costs, no policy debate, clowns as contenders, campaigning over governing

  • ★★ John says the length of presidential campaigns has doubled since Kennedy and costs have skyrocketed. — 00:02:13
  • ★★★ John struggles to see what all the time and money buys: few serious policy discussions, actual clowns treated as serious contenders, and campaigning instead of governing. — 00:02:16
  • ★★ John says the US is in the middle of a 22-month, multi-billion-dollar presidential campaign but hasn't had a long-term bill to fund highways in four years. — 00:02:33 · United States presidential election
  • ★★★ So John is not paying attention to the so-called presidential campaign yet; he doesn't criticize those who do, noting much great organizing and activism around the candidates. — 00:02:41 · United States presidential election

00:02:45 — John isn't paying attention yet; his focus is elsewhere; his pledge to start caring on January 23, 2016; sign-off

  • ★ John says his focus is on his kids and a great book he just read. — 00:02:53
  • ★★ John notes the elections in Haiti two days earlier that finally occurred after three years of delays. — 00:02:54

  • ★★★ John's pledge: he will begin caring about the US presidential election 100 days before Indiana's May 3rd primary; if Donald Trump is still a candidate on January 23rd, 2016, he will think about Trump for the first time. — 00:03:03 · United States presidential election, Indiana, Donald Trump

    “I will begin caring about the US presidential election 100 days before the May 3rd primary”

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description John adds that the media is heavily invested in longer campaigns because campaigns buy ads on cable news and YouTube, and says he will discuss it in another video. — video description · YouTube
  • ★★ John thanks Rosianna for research help on the video. — video description · Rosianna Halse Rojas
  • ★★ For viewers who want to know more, John recommends two articles: Mic's 'Our elections are too long' and The New York Times' 'How Presidential Campaigns Became Two Year Marathons'. — video description · The New York Times

Humor (significant)

  • John imagines a baby conceived tonight, born into the world for the first time while the campaign is still running. — 00:00:16

    “it will cry, presumably over the state of American political discourse.”

  • The baby will be six months old before the election. — 00:00:31

    “It will be laughing at its own farts by the time we actually vote.”

  • The US process takes 23 times longer than the UK and also costs 40 times more. — 00:01:18

    “so that's nice.”

  • Explaining why Kennedy couldn't have won under the old system, John searches for a delicate way to say it. — 00:02:00

    “Catholic.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: John F. Kennedy · political campaign · primary election · United States presidential election

Also: People: Donald Trump · Elizabeth II

Organizations: Catholic Church · Democratic Party · Parliament of the United Kingdom · Republican Party · United States Congress

Concepts: democracy · suffrage

Places: Australia · Canada · Germany · Haiti · Indiana · Italy · Netherlands · Nigeria · United Kingdom

Events: 2015 Canadian federal election

Only in the description or credits: Cable news · Mic · Rosianna Halse Rojas · The New York Times · YouTube

Also centred on primary election: Understanding the Primaries: Delegates, Democracy, and America's Nonstop Political Party

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