First and foremost, take private money out of politics.
That should help dismantle the poisenous two party system and open the door for politicians that represent the middle majority to get a shot.
Just playing the devils advocate here, but how would campaigns be funded? Public money? I don't think many people want tax money going towards running political campaigns. Additionally, who controls that money? A "non-partisan" committee that would invariably end up being controlled by the administrative state, which in most cases is staffed with partisans from the dominate political party in that locality. That in turn will lead to less money being available to the non-dominant political parties for various "reasons".
Private money is troublesome, but it reality its the most effective way to fund campaigns. Should there be more (read: complete) transparency about who is funding who and how much? Yes. But I'm not sure that I think doing away with private money in elections would really help usher in a new age of middle of the road candidates.
Remove the electoral college in favor of popular vote. That allows every person, rural and metro, to have their vote count.
Absolutely, categorically,
emphatically, NO.
Instituting a popular vote for the Presidency would lead to near complete disenfranchisement of rural areas and less populated states and hand that office over completely to the densely populated costal areas. Much like how every state gets two Senators regardless of population, the Electoral College is designed to allow rural and less populated areas to have a say in the most important national election. Do away with it and you would basically silence the voice of people outside of the megacities.
Age limits. Duh. 65 at beginning of office and must pass cognitive tests annually after 60.
Term limits.
I go back and forth on age limits. As I mentioned before, there is no age limit for national office because when the Constitution was written, there really was no need for it. This also plays into the argument about term limits. The Presidency is the only national office with a term limit, and thats because one man, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ran and won four times. When the GOP retook Congress in '50, they passed the 22nd Amendment implementing the two term limit.
Was it FDR taking advantage of the system? Yes, but it was the electorate that voted him in; so the onus is on them really. Technically speaking, we the people have the opportunity to impose a term or age limits on elected officials every two, four, and six years. It's mostly
our fault for just punching the button for the guy/gal with an R or D next to their name regardless of their time in office, age, or mental acuity. While term or age limits might solve part of the problem, the real problem is lack of education and awareness among the voting public.
Allow foreign born citizens to run for major office. #teamschwarzennegger
The only office's Arnie can't hold is the Presidency and Vice Presidency.