There is a campaign industry, and it has become a vested interest, an industry that wants to grow, not shrink – an industry that doesn’t just influence officeholders, it creates them.

My experience is that about nine in 10 members of Congress hate the long campaigns – the perpetual fundraising, the distraction, the triviality, the nasty ads, the indignities.

But there is a professional class of political consultants who love expensive campaigns.

Television stations love campaigns that buy and buy ad time. Reporters love campaigns because they are easier to cover than government, which can be boring and technical.

Perhaps these are some of the reasons why the rather obvious idea of trying to shorten the campaigns we all complain about isn’t on the menu of good government reforms.