Unfortunately too many are caught up in the Elephant/Donkey mentality. Not much diference between the two if you step out and look at how both parties run. Old money and lobby influence make the policies, otherwise why all the pork belly for this gov/sen/congress person and their constitiuents without unancounced to the pubilic concessions attached to bills and such If you want to make a change start voting independent, or gree, or libritarian or any othe party you believe in. That's what America is all about. If you believe your vote is wasted and you don't vote your concience or gut feeling and then vote on peer pressure, then it realy is wasted. Look what Perrot's influence had on the vote. Don't be blind and unaware when you vote, Remember, the Reps and Dems benefit from good economic runs which are cyclical, which has nothing to do with our own security and best interest, but of those who are well off and have influence.

When was the last time Republicans had a good economic run that didn't leave us in record debt?

same question democraticaly then?

same answer....

debate?

Tie goes to Obama partly because a draw means he keeps his poll advantage, but mostly because it's cool to reference Public Enemy (even though I think the original intent of the song doesn't fit).

I can't believe people are saying it doesn't matter who's in power after the last eight years...

Of course the president is only part of the government. We could just as easily ask why we have such problems every time there are democrats as a majority of house and senate. It could also be that since there have only been 8 years with a democratic president out of the last 25 years, there are statistically more likely to be issues during a republican presidency than a democratic one. There have also been more hurricanes during a republican presidency, but no one could honestly think that is anything more than a coincidence. Our spending habits and fiscal irresponsibility as citizens are far more important to our economic state than anything the president does. We are a society of spoiled children, and it shows.

That'd be a decent argument except for...oh, I don't know.. the Iraq War

Bush has had a big impact on the course of American history. That's not necessarily true for all presidents, but it's true in this case.

He was also the product of a wider movement within conservatism. The skewed priorities of that conservative activism are also a big factor in America's current state. Bush himself may not have been the direct driver behind everything, but he serves as a good symbol for what's happened to America. You can track a lot of the current problems back to specific policies, and they are mostly Republican policies.