The Latest Reality TV Show: Republican Survivor

The Republican Presidential debates have all the makings of a great reality TV show. Money. Power. Scandal. All they need are a little tweaking by an executive producer like Mark Burnett (“Survivor”) or Jerry Bruckheimer (“Amazing Race”). It could have all the makings of a “Big Brother”, only with a lot more long-term impact.

We could put all of the Republican presidential candidates in isolation on an island, or in a big house. If it was the latter, it would have to be palatial to do justice to the candidates and their budgets.

Each candidate would have an evolving, week-by-week back story. Mitt Romney’s ten thousand dollar bet. Herman Cain’s alleged adultery. Newt Gingrich’s not-so-alleged adultery and history as Speaker of the House. The list goes on and on. Reality TV needs juicy story lines, and we have plenty of them now.

Let’s get Megyn Kelly to host the series.

Each weekly episode could focus on a different issue of presidential importance. Foreign policy. The environment. The economy. Family values. Education. The Constitution, or more specifically, the separation of church and state. Their interactions in the house or on the island could focus on these issues. Hidden cameras could catch all of the action. That way, they would present their own ideas informally, other than the standard “anything but Obama” phraseology which seems to be the traditional sound bite these days.

There could be a whole host of guests brought into the house on a weekly basis to wreak havoc. How about Sarah Palin? Rudy Giuliani? They could stir the political pot and those hidden cameras would record all of it. You betcha.

Maybe Donald Trump could host an episode of the show much like a Presidential Apprentice. Better yet, President Bush could come back as a special guest on that episode. Wouldn’t it be fun to watch the candidates grouped together to perform team tasks? Maybe have Herman Cain work with Newt Gingrich on a book marketing project? Awesome stuff, indeed.

I guess that episode might get canceled at the last minute should Trump decide to run as an independent. 

Forget about the caucuses. Who needs them? Let’s just have the group vote each other off the island or out of the house at the end of each episode. Viewers could call in or send text messages to vote for their favorite candidate. That would add a nice little “American Idol” twist.

“Dial 877-444-9001 or text 9001 to vote for candidate #1 … standard text messaging rates will apply …”

Since the national debt is of supreme importance to the party these days, how about donating the proceeds of this TV series to decreasing the national debt? Now that is action!

Then, when everything is said and done, there would be a candidate that would truly reflect how things operate in this country anymore. Sadly, politics has stooped to this level, TV show or otherwise. Isn’t it all about being the biggest celebrity? Isn’t the candidate that generates the greatest buzz at the right time deemed the winner?

I have to admit though  - I would love to see the Nielsen ratings …

Photo credits: glamourmagazine