I think that the critical factor would be to give congress dedicated time when they're in the same place working with each other, rather than posing for the cameras. Pose at home, work in Washington. The constant back and forth makes legislating another part of campaigning rather than the other way around.
There will inevitably be posing in Washington, because that's where you can pose with your colleagues.
It seems not unreasonable to batch up nominations. I mean, really ... if the executive had one chance per year to get a real official appointed ... he might take it more seriously.
If we assume that those positions must be filled, then the governmental apparatus will insist that they get filled one way or another. Bush has had a penchant for "recess appointments" to avoid losing confirmation battles. If we lump all the nomination hearings together, I'd guess that that practice would become considerably more common.
(One could reasonably ask whether a confirmation process is really necessary for most of these positions; maybe a better idea would be to make it easier to get them chucked out. I kind of feel that the President ought to be able to pick his own staff...but OTOH, his staff members (the cabinet, e.g.) have an awful lot of power. *sigh*...)
Re: Recess
There will inevitably be posing in Washington, because that's where you can pose with your colleagues.
It seems not unreasonable to batch up nominations. I mean, really ... if the executive had one chance per year to get a real official appointed ... he might take it more seriously.
If we assume that those positions must be filled, then the governmental apparatus will insist that they get filled one way or another. Bush has had a penchant for "recess appointments" to avoid losing confirmation battles. If we lump all the nomination hearings together, I'd guess that that practice would become considerably more common.
(One could reasonably ask whether a confirmation process is really necessary for most of these positions; maybe a better idea would be to make it easier to get them chucked out. I kind of feel that the President ought to be able to pick his own staff...but OTOH, his staff members (the cabinet, e.g.) have an awful lot of power. *sigh*...)