Hiring and Test Firing

The mystery I'm reading during my morning cardio has a character whose husband is running for office. The character has to attend public appearances and be shepherded around by the campaign manager and appear as a happy, supportive wife. That appears to be much like real life. (We will presume, for the sake of argument, that the same occurs if the wife is running for office and the husband plays contented spouse.)

What if, however, the spouse doesn't want to do this? "I'm sorry, dear. I love you, but I hate this job you're going for." Indeed, why do spouses need to be visibly supportive of politicians' lives?

What if political offices were handled like "normal" jobs? What if candidates were "hired" instead of elected? As applicants, the candidates would provide resumes of relevant, past experiences. Debates would be replaced by interviews. (Where I used to live, the League of Women Voters would submit a list of questions to each candidate. The candidates' answers (or statement that the candidate did not respond) would be printed in one issue of the local newspaper.) Questions about religion, family, ethnicity, disability, etc. would be prohibited. (That should clear out some of the fluff from campaign coverage.) Applicants would be hired for short-term contracts and could reapply, if interested, when their contract is due to expire. Applicants also could be fired for cause (recalled) before the contract ends.

The bathroom book I'm reading is by Werner von Braun and concerns a theoretical trip to the moon. (The book was written in the late 1950's.) My first thought was to wonder if President Kennedy was influenced by von Braun when he set the nation's goal to land on the moon, knowing it was theoretically possible, rather than just wanting to "beat the Russkies". My second thought, regarding the book's illustrations of the moon rocket, was that the rockets were almost exactly like that. (Well, yeah, if you're going to design a rocket, you'd be a fool to ignore advice from von Braun or Robert Goddard.) My last thought (so far; I'm not done the book yet) was that von Braun's idea of the capsule that returns from the moon to the earth was extremely like the Space Shuttle: airplane-shaped and designed to glide through the atmosphere. I marveled at the concept which was put forth twenty years before it was actually implemented. (Yes, a little part of me realizes that this probably is a suitable incubation time for developing the technology and getting Congress to provide funding.)

I wonder what other ideas are out there?