Draft Back America

• archive
• 2015

Draft Back America was my first foray into American politics. While it didn't get very far, I still believe that the idea behind it is sound and, if put into use, would result in a better political experience than the one we have now. The entire campaign was an answer to a question: If we are to have a government, shouldn't we have honest people running it? I'm not a fan of government, and I believe that the best government is small and stays out of the way. A system that greases the most venal, vacuous and ambitious among us into office works directly against this, as such people will always seek to grow the source of their own power.

It wasn't always this way. In the early days of the Republic, it was considered gauche for a person to go out campaigning for office. Men of affairs were expected to wait until they had been called to office by there peers, on account of their ability, integrity and previous service. Aaron Burr, unsurprisingly, was one of the first large names to break this taboo and legitimize the practice of campaigning. I would argue that things have been downhill ever since, and the quality of men and women recruited to "serve" is poor.

I admit that there is a performative aspect to this that I am not fond of. And there is still a place for ambitious and ego-driven people to hide behind false humility. But the method is far better than having candidates self-select or be selected by party leadership. Plato suggested that the ideal ruler is a person that does not wish to rule. Plato said a lot of whacky things, but this idea I agree with.

This campain was run in conjunction with DSI2016, and shared a lot of resources and methodology with that campaign. While ultimately we did not get our candidate for president, another showed up who turned out to be even better. And while the idea hasn't caught on, I still think running drafts to get good people into office is a better model. History will tell whether or not this ever happens again.