I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis, and today I have a modest proposal for political ads on television.
If a presidential candidate receives federal campaign funds, a certain percentage of his television commercials must conform to specific guidelines, to wit:
No sappy or patriotic music.
No voice-of-God narration.
No quick cutting between smiling children, the candidate with tie undone, and the flag.
No vague generalizations about his beliefs, such as staking out the bold position that America's a swell place to live, or that if he's elected president things will only get better and better.
Nope, he'll have to look into the camera and in 60 seconds address a specific policy problem and explain how he'd fix it. That's it. No frills. No razzle-dazzle. No music, no editing, nada. If he likes, he can take 120 seconds. He can pick any issue and say anything — except mention his opponent's name. If he doesn't want to do it, I'm sure somebody else would like the money.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time: the minimum wage amendment.