Monday, July 14, 2025, 11:47PM | 
MENU
Advertisement

Dan Simpson: Off with their heads!

Dan Simpson: Off with their heads!

We Americans can learn a lot from British elections

A sharp look at the British elections would show Americans that there is another way to do it. Perhaps the part I liked best about last week’s voting in Britain was that the leaders of the parties that lost —Labor, the Liberal Democrats and the U.K. Independence Party — all resigned.

I myself would prefer that losing candidates be obliged to follow an Anne Boleyn model — those who watched PBS’s “Wolf Hall” will know what I mean. The ridiculous number of candidates pursuing the White House would likely be radically reduced if the penalty for losing after subjecting the populace to a long, costly celebration of just how boring most of them are was that meted out to Henry VIII’s second queen.

Instead, unsuccessful American presidential candidates are allowed to “suspend” — rather than end — their campaigns, keeping the money people have contributed. Federal law bars them from using leftover campaign dollars for personal expenses, but there have been documented abuses.

Advertisement

There are comebacks in British politics — Winston Churchill’s, for instance — but for the most part, once they lose they are gone. In the United States, some of these people run again and again, banking on name recognition or the experience that people like to pretend previous candidacies have added to their resumes as they try to bamboozle voters into finally electing them.

Another thing I adore about the British electoral system is the brevity of campaigns. In the amount of time that has elapsed since the announcement of a presidential candidacy by America’s first spring crocus, Sen. Ted Cruz, and today, the British carried out the entirety of a national electoral campaign, choosing 650 members of Parliament and re-installing David Cameron as prime minister.

I don’t know which I find more tiresome, the proliferation of Republican candidates competing for the distinction of being the most unsuitable to occupy the office of president or the corrupt juggernaut of Hillary Clinton, whom we are told is the inevitable Democratic candidate, an impression not yet challenged by the quality of the other possible candidates from her party. What I am absolutely sure of is that in May 2015 I am already really, really tired of hearing about a vote that won’t have to be cast until 18 months from now.

Then there’s the money. American print media already are telling us which squalid American billionaires and foreign donors own which presidential candidates. Where did “one man, one vote” go? Or, a subject worthy of great consideration, how do we get it back?

Advertisement

I don’t care what form it takes, no one should be able to buy an American election. The U.S. Supreme Court, with its “Citizens United” decision, has turned out to be just as corrupt as one thought it to be in 2000 when it gave that election to George W. Bush, so we cannot look to our courts to re-level the playing field.

The British limit election spending and media advertising, by the way. They believe such measures make it more likely that voters will be able to express their will at the ballot box, as it appears they did.

Another joy of the just-completed British elections is that the polls turned out to be entirely wrong. They had predicted a shambolic outcome to the elections, with some sort of crazed coalition being required to govern the place as votes divided among the Conservatives, Labor, the Scottish Independence Party, the UK Independence Party, the Liberal Democrats and even the Greens. In the end, the Conservatives swept the board.

I’m not sure how good that is for the British, but I do know that it gave me considerable pleasure to see the “polls” blown out of the water by the voters.

What we Americans somehow must do between now and November 2016 is figure out how to counteract or ignore whatever the candidates and their machines try to do to us with the billions they will have and vote as serious, conscientious beings for the best person for each office that we can see through the smoke and haze. I think it can be done, but the challenge will be enormous, starting with actually paying attention to the candidates that surface like dead fish in the primaries.

First step, for those who still watch television, will be to change channels every time a campaign ad comes on. They are tempting. Sometimes the dogs or the children are cute, but remember that they lie. If mail comes to your home or office from a candidate, throw it away before reading. As for robocalls, it should go without saying that you should hang up instantly, even if the person sounds nice or says he is Bill Clinton.

Campaign rallies — they are all about money and are crammed with stooges. You won’t have time to go buy rotten tomatoes and the candidate’s bodyguards won’t let you throw them anyway, so just avoid such gatherings. If your kid’s school tries to run a candidate at a school assembly, complain bitterly in advance and then demonstrate at the next school board meeting.

After both major parties have settled on a candidate, then make a major effort to figure out what each is committed to. Good luck with that, but it has to be done. And, remember, this country has survived all sorts of louts in the White House.

That said, we have had some good ones, too. I can’t say at this point that I see a good one lined up for 2016, and Henry VIII was awful. But we have to try.

Dan Simpson, a former U.S. ambassador, is a columnist for the Post-Gazette (dsimpson@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1976).

First Published: May 13, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers participates during practice at NFL football minicamp, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Pittsburgh.
1
sports
Brian Batko's Steelers chat transcript: 07.14.25
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey (left) criticized former President Donald Trump’s recent policy positions during an impromptu press conference on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus Monday, July 14, 2025. Her remarks came ahead of the university’s artificial intelligence and energy summit, which features Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick.
2
news
Ed Gainey, Summer Lee protest President Donald Trump's visit to Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University students sit under canopies and guard The Fence to protect their message to President Trump on Sunday, July 13, 2025.  The students said they plan to stay there until the president comes to visit on Tuesday.  The Fence is an iconic, student-centered space for free expression and community at CMU.
3
news
Trump visit to CMU sparks student protests ahead of energy and AI summit
Carnegie Mellon University seen from the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
4
business
The industry and political leaders who are — or could be — attending the energy and AI summit in Pittsburgh
PNC Park and the Roberto Clemente Bridge on the Allegheny River on Monday, March 29, 2021, on the North Shore.   (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)   #standalone
5
sports
MLB draft tracker: Pirates make 17 selections, focus on college bats and a few more prep arms
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story