What an election campaign might look like

There's often claims that elections for a directly elected non-executive head of state would turn into "ugly" party-political events. Well, it turns out the leading candidate for Ireland's October presidential election is David Norris, an independent senator.

Interestingly, David Norris gained his nomination by a unique mechanism in Ireland's constitution - nomination by four of Ireland's county councils. A key flaw in Ireland's model is that the candidates for president are decided largely at the party level. Of Ireland's eight presidents since 1938, only two have been independents.

Hat tip: Craig Young