Needed to turn the brain off for a bit last night, so I spent two hours with a quick re-read of the Dick Francis novel 10 Lb. Penalty. As usual, this did the trick. I wish there was a Francis I had not read yet. Since this is his 36th novel (and this isn’t his most recent), maybe there is one I missed. I’ll have to check!
10 Lb. Penalty one gives a peek into British politics and the system for electing MPs. Maybe this fictional account is misleading, but campaign finance does seem to be under a bit more control, at least nominally, since you can only spend so much per voter and you have to account for it all. Maybe this is too optimistic, and maybe there is ‘soft’ money awash in the British system, too, but I’d like to imagine that the American political system could find a model for leveling the playing field a bit somehow.