Unfortunately, this election is becoming a sporting event rather than the hiring of a public employee.

I have heard more garbage about "electability" and "change" and "inexperience" and "which VP candidate could garner the more votes" than what substantive effort is to occur post-election. Where is there any concern about AMERICA? It's become "my side won" regardless of what constitutes that "side."

No matter what, the slate is clean for each candidate. Sen. Obama is his own person, as Sen. McCain is as well. Neither are Pres. Bush and that administration is down to its last few weeks. The constant trying to link Sen. McCain as a continuum of the Bush administration is as idiotic as claiming Sen. Obama will turn the nation into the first North American Islamic republic. Neither position has any merit and rates as "dirty pool."

The simple question is always the best - if you were hiring the person with your own money (which you are) to perform duties affecting your home (which one will) as your employee (which that person will be) and locking yourself into trusting the person's judgment to do a good job (which you are) and giving the person a four-year exclusive contract to do the job (which is what happens) AND trusting that the person will not be influenced by others with interests of their own (a la the "Party" leadership) despite what may be your best interests, then WHICH CANDIDATE GETS HIRED? This isn't the selection of a king or messiah, but the hiring of an employee by committee.

For a Floridian, this does get a little more complicated when the backers of one candidate have already told Floridians they don't count in the equation, and the candidate has not rebutted that rebuke other than to say "those are the party rules, (and the party does rule)" but you can be worth a half a vote as a toss-in. I prefer to be more than a half-a-vote, and if not equal to others, then to *$^^ with the party!

"Backbone" is probably the most important trait for my employee, and it always has been for anyone I've ever hired. No backbone means no ethics. Not having a backbone when it comes to "the Party" only means not having one to represent or defend my interests.

School is still out, and the party conventions may give the candidates an open forum to show if each is hisr own man or just another party puppet. The "Florida and Michigan" situation, and how it is handled by Sen. Obama will measure his backbone, as how Sen. McCain handles himself before a convention seeking stability and confidence.