My Endorsement

Time for a rant. :-)

Does anyone seriously expect any of the three candidates for President to actually do anything once in the Oval Office? And inviting the winning college World Series players to a photo op in the Rose Garden doesn't count.

Now, I don't mean "not do anything" in an apathetic sense. What I mean is -- the President really cannot do much.
Think about it. All three have their various platforms, and sure, they can ask to have certain bills introduced. But those get amended to include pork for Senator X so he'll vote for it, something else for Representative Y because she's the Chair for the committee that would otherwise reject it... and so on and so on ... until the bill that arrives to be signed looks nothing like the original item.

It is not their fault, actually. Remember "checks and balances" from way-long-ago history or civics class? The Executive and Legislative branches were purposely set up so that laws would take a while to be passed, and hopefully well deliberated ones to boot.

So if HillaryCare is what you think is most important, and thus you vote for her, please remember that she then has to go to battle with 535 Congresspeople -- all of who have their own ideas about the "right" way to spend our tax money on the people's health. Hey, here's a campaign slogan: "Hillary Clinton -- the 6th and 7h terms of the Bush/Clinton era."

If we do need to "stay the course" and thus you cast your vote for John McCain -- same thing. Congress actually controls the purse strings -- remember? Thus if a Democratic majority decides to shut down funding, we will get out. Hmmm... feel like you wasted your vote?

Obama is new enough to the scene that he does not yet seem captured by the machine yet. He has made the populist claim to be the outsider and seems the most believable at this point. I honestly believe that he will be marginally better than the other two, and that is why Barack Obama wins the coveted "Official Trond24 Presidential Endorsement."

Regards,
Trond