Selling my vote to the highest bidder

I just learned that there are presidential elections in my country today and I decided to sell my vote to the highest bidder. Before you get all up in arms that democracy doesn’t work like that, her me out and think a little about it. Isn’t the current model of democracy just like that?

While in town, I saw lots of billboards, one bigger then the other, up to eight stories high…but I only saw two candidates on them and I believe there are more runners for the presidential elections. So where are the rest? Those are the underdogs, who can’t buy exposure so they will probably not get a lot of votes. This means that you can improve your chances just by trowing money at it.

While anyone can run for president, the system strongly favors candidates that have more money. How can you get more money?

1. campaign donations would be the primary source of revenue in a fair-ish system, but in reality donations come with strings attached. Once you receive (a lot of) money from a donor, you are obliged to at least hear them out, if not agree with their cause (being that taxes on the rich, healthcare, gay rights, abortions, pensions, energy policy, public contracts etc.). While rallying people to donate is a good leadership test, in reality the amount you raise from donations does not completely reflect your qualities as a good president. You may have chosen not to accept money from a dubious group so you raise less, so you get less exposure, while being more righteous then the others who took the donations.
2. in reality the primary source of income for a campaign is party money and money raised by the party for the candidate, that comes with all sorts of strings attached. Of course you have to agree with the party’s vision and what it stands for, but most of the time this goes to extreme lengths, where you have to agree on ALL the issues all the time, or be remained who put you there. Also you can’t really choose donors that donate to the party…
3. To become a candidate for a party, at least in my country, you have to work your way up to the top, making sure you’re not upsetting anyone you leave behind. This also means that you have to agree with everything the party wants. While knowing your way in internal politics is a needed skill for a president, this ‘scheming’ is not essential for a good leader. If it were, then Big Brother winners would make for perfect candidates.
4. at this point, does anyone really think independent candidates have a chance of being elected?

If the entire process evolves around money and internal politics, is there a way to find the best candidate?

Now, I’m supposed to make my voice heard, go and vote for someone. I have no idea what each candidates stands for, or if they won’t change their minds mid-term, what are their backgrounds, if they contributed anything to any worthy cause. I only know two of their names from those eight story high billboards splintered across town. At this point, should my vote really count? I could as well trow a dice and pick a name from the list randomly. Should my vote count as much as someone’s who is actually interested, invested time and viewed the presidential debates and is knowledgeable about all the candidates?

How about someone’s vote who can’t even read? Who are those people voting for? They will be instructed to vote for the rose, triangle, circle or some other pictogram. Do you really want to allow people to vote for a circle or a triangle? Then consider why my randomly selected vote is better for the country.

…Should I be allowed to vote?

Democracy is like the web 1.0, it’s like HTML 4 that needs a flash plugin to play videos, we need democracy 2.0! We now need a new system where people can discuss and vote on issues they are knowledgeable about and that impact them directly. There needs to be a better way of being part of a democracy, a civocracy.