Bill Maher: The Only Reason We Stay in Permanent Campaign Mode is Money

money
Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash,
Published: 16 Sep, 2024
Updated: 18 Sep, 2024
3 min read

Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash

 

In the latest episode of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, comedian Bill Maher said Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign proves something about American politics:

Namely, we don't need the endless campaign cycle.

"Now that we have shown that it is possible to begin a campaign for president just 3 months before the election, let's always do that," he said. 

He noted that despite concerns from some analysts that Biden dropping out of the race so late in the campaign cycle would lead to chaos, it largely hasn't. The Democratic Party's transition from Biden to Harris was practically seamless. 

"They always say. 'Voters don't pay attention until Labor Day,' well then let's start the election on Labor Day and end it on Election Day," said Maher. He pointed to several countries that do this without issue.

He mentioned Japan, for example, where the "season" lasts 12 days. He talked about England, where their campaigns go for 25 working days with an immediate transition of power. In Brazil, campaigns go for 45 days.

"The only reason we stay stuck in permanent campaign mode is money, " said Maher. "It is estimated this year that $16 billion will be spent on political ads." That's right. Just on ads

IVP Donate

"It is time we admit that the endless campaign exists only to enrich advertisers, political consultants, and what's left of the news media." It is worth including the political parties and their allied political action committees.

Maher says that the winner of elections these days is who voters are less tired of, and his assertion is not baseless. Pew Research found in 2023 that about two-thirds of Americans get exhausted just thinking about US politics.

Maher's opinion on this matter raises an obvious question: What about the presidential primaries? After all, the times in the nation's history where campaigns were much shorter were before the wide use of primaries.

However, the 2024 presidential election exposed a truth that IVN has educated voters on for years: the presidential nomination process has never been about elevating democracy.

The Democratic Party switched who was on top of the party's ticket well after the presidential primaries were said and done. But even before that, both parties wrapped up their nominations by March. 

And yet, much of the country hadn't voted yet.

It is the parties' right to determine how the nomination processes for their presidential tickets are conducted. Both major parties have changed their rules in various cycles to better get the outcomes they want.

It is an absolute waste of taxpayer money to conduct publicly funded and administered elections that don't directly nominate a candidate, especially when millions of voters are told to sit out of the process.

Let Us Vote : Sign Now!

Ideally, if states conduct presidential primaries, all eligible voters should be allowed to participate and the parties -- as they do right now -- can decide what votes to count toward their delegates and nomination processes.

It is possible to have a presidential primary system like this and still give voters a break between the midterms and the presidential election and between the final primaries / conventions and Labor Day (or even later). 

Because right now, by November, voters are worn out, and then it all starts again by December. "They are just constantly on us. TV, radio, the mail, on our phones, texting," said Maher. "They're everywhere, all the time."

In this article

Related articles

Judge about to slower gavel.
Believe It or Not, There Is Still a 2024 Election That Hasn't Been Called
It may be hard to believe, but as of April 2025, there is still one election in the US from the last election cycle that has not been called: the 2024 North Carolina Supreme Court election between incumbent Democrat Justice Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin....
09 Apr, 2025
-
3 min read
businessman holding his hands to his face.
New Poll: Half of US Voters Say They Voted For 'Lesser of Two Evils' in 2024
Citizen Data polled US voters following the 2024 elections and found that nearly half (47%) said they cast their ballot, not for the candidate they supported the most, but for the candidate they determined was the 'lesser of two evils.'...
09 Dec, 2024
-
2 min read
Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang: Democrats Have Only Themselves to Blame
Former presidential candidate and Forward Party Founder Andrew Yang says that if Democratic leaders are looking for someone to blame for their 2024 loss, they need to take a hard look in the mirror....
11 Nov, 2024
-
2 min read

Latest articles

Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read