<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">I think the stakes in a presidential campaign should be lowered, not raised. Higher stakes encourage corruption, cheating and violence. How much more so if life and death were on the line. Who could blame a person for lying and cheating and vote stealing if failure meant he would widow his wife and orphan his children?!</div><br class=""><div apple-content-edited="true" class="">
<div class="">Tara Maya</div><div class=""><a href="http://taramayastales.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" class="">Blog</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/taramayastales" target="_blank" class="">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Unfinished-Song-Epic-Fantasy/310271375658211?ref=hl" target="_blank" class="">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Maya/e/B004HAI038/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1349796143&sr=8-2-ent" target="_blank" class="">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2951879.Tara_Maya" target="_blank" class="">Goodreads</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Dec 16, 2015, at 8:54 AM, Dave Sill <<a href="mailto:sparge@gmail.com" class="">sparge@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">This passage from that paper gives me an idea:<br class=""><br class="">"The earnest voter might be pardoned for feeling, during the throes of a presidential campaign, that the best outcome would be for the two candidates to stop their electioneering, engage in a manly duel, and shoot each other dead."<br class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">What if we keep the current system, but any candidate running for president faces a coin toss for life/death if they lose? :-)<br class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">-Dave</div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></body></html>