This topic actually came up on another forum I was on, and for a short while, I gave consideration running for an elected office based on the following ideas & ideals:
Everyone eligible to vote in my state would register, either by phone or computer into a new secure system. Each individual would create a user name & password. My job would be to take a matter that’s going to be voted on - bank bail-out, supreme court justice nomination, whether or not to drill for Oil in Alaska…etc. and research it from all possible angles. Then I would present, online and in local papers, an equally strong argument for & against the matter at hand. I would have a non-partisan research team to help gather & disseminate the information. Once presented, I would then ask those voters who have registered to get on their phones or log on and vote yea or nay. The system would tally the votes (the results of which would be made public after the vote in the house) and whatever the majority is, that’s how I would cast my vote - on behalf of the people of The Great State of Minnesota. My speeches on the floor would be with all the passion & conviction I could muster in favor of the voting which already took place.
Furthermore, any meetings I would have with other representatives, special interest people & such would take place in my office, where there would be very visible & clear signs alerting them to the fact that any meetings & conversations taking place would be subject to audio & video recording. In a public office, nothing is private, and the recordings would be made readily available to anyone who wanted to view them.
During my campaign, I would keep 100% accurate accounting of all contributions, who made them & for how much, plus where the money was spent. Again, full disclosure, as I am a publicly elected representative - I would ask for nothing less, and I would give exactly that.
The only problem I can see is this - which party to run under. As I see it, partisan politics have been holding this country back since its inception. Many good ideas are cast aside just because the idea came from “that other party”. I could run as an independent, but they never fare well in the elections, save Jesse Ventura, and that was a fiasco Minnesota won’t soon forget.