It occurs to me that he and I may be thinking about different things. He is thinking about his run for an open seat in Congress, where there were plenty of candidates who managed to collect the signatures. Or open seats for City Council.

I'm thinking of elections where there is a legislative incumbent, where there is generally no choice.

So how about this? Require that the incumbent say early whether or not they seek re-election. If they will, drastically reduce the signature requirement for both the incumbent and any challenger.

After all, the more money the incumbent has to spend to get on the ballot, the more special interests they have to sell out to. And given that the special interests tend not to pay for challengers, anyone willing to take on that role should be provided with the least incumberance possible.

But discussions about what ought to be are equivalent to dreaming. This is oligarchy, not democracy. Who is kidding who?