Was a Republican for many years. Then became an Independent. Now I consider myself an Independent but am registered as a Democrat so I can vote in the Primaries. I will vote for Obama.

Originally Posted by Avista

Was a Republican for many years. Then became an Independent. Now I consider myself an Independent but am registered as a Democrat so I can vote in the Primaries. I will vote for Obama.

I think there will be alot of Rep. changing this yr to vote for Obama. No more Clinton's! : PULLEASE!!!

In the end, whether it is Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain, the "change" will be the 8,500 political appointees who will get jobs on a noncompetitive basis within the first 180 days of the new administration (see http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/index.html). Historically, those who worked the hardest at the campaign, regardless if that was at a senior level or rang doorbells, will get the bulwark of these jobs. The prayer is that some might actually have some technical competencE, and not just be the latest to receive titles for services rendered.

Republicans and Democrats alike do the same. Just check the past editions of the Plum Book to verify that.

So, the "change" promised by either candidate is totally dependent on who is owed what during the campaign, the "reward" to be granted, and if the awardee REALLY can do the work or is receiving "welfare with dignity."

I know this sound cynical, but the way it is, is the way it is. Five minutes of research can verify all of this. That's why the backers of a candidate are so important, as they don't back - wheher By financial contribution, labor or reputational endorsement - for free. It's an "I pay now, and you'll pay later with interest" situation.

So, all the charisma, hype, promises, image and all is pure salesmanship to sway a vote, UNLESS there is real substance to back it up. That's why the substance is so important to me. Old salesmen know that you sell the sizzle, not the steak - so, "Where's the Beef?"

I don't disagree that patronage jobs are a way of life. People generally are rewarded with a job depending on their input to the campaign. However, from what I've observed, policy changes are set at the top, and that's what I as a voter hope to accomplish with my vote.

Is the "top" a 4-year monarch, or that cast of hundreds who will fill the cabinet posts, the agencies within each Department, and the independent agencies which report to the White House? Just the Head, Deputy and Chief of Staff for each of these entities is a serious number. Span-of-control principles make it impossible for the Chief Executive to really know what's going on at the policy level within each of these operations, and a macro "let's make it better" doesn't do much if anything at all. It's the lower-tier decisions which really run things.

They may be running things, but ultimately they answer to the top. For example, if the head of an organization says that the organization will be affirmative action friendly, and all decisions in that regard must be referred to the top, it will happen. Of course the President will not know every single policy decision in every agency, (hopefully no one is that much of a micromanager) but the tone of the administrattion will be set, and those that don't fit in or respect that tone face the possiblity of losing their job, being reprimanded, or being mis-assigned. At least that's the way it works at state level in NYS. I would assume federal isn't any different.

George Washington hoped we would not resort to a party system. He felt you should stand for your own beliefs instead of a party platform. He also thought a party system would cause gridlock. Oh well................

Originally Posted by Lil Dancer

..... but the tone of the administrattion will be set, and those that don't fit in or respect that tone face the possiblity of losing their job, being reprimanded, or being mis-assigned. At least that's the way it works at state level in NYS. I would assume federal isn't any different.

It is different. There's too much grandstanding and photo-opping, matched with too many public opinion polls. The one's who got the President elected wield a lot of power, especially when they get their title. No one who heads a Department or major agency (including deputies and chiefs of staf fis ever fired, because that just makes the party look bad. It's been the same with ALL administrations. Those who head Departments can't even fire those under them organizationally (the agency heads) because as a Presidentially-selected Senatorially-confirmed appointee, they are all equal to the White House, AND KNOW IT! Occasionally someone "takes one for the team" as the FEMA head did during Katrina, but that's abouot all that happens.

That's why the Plum Book is so important. The President is someone who got the job because a lot of people paid for him to get it - or so it seems sometimes, especially to the big-money contributors. An independent-thinking and acting president - one who does not bow towards the building which houses that party's National Committee Headquarters - is a myth.

Originally Posted by Avista

Was a Republican for many years. Then became an Independent. Now I consider myself an Independent but am registered as a Democrat so I can vote in the Primaries. I will vote for Obama.

ME TOO

I am a lifelong Republican that will be voting for Obama. He has talked the talk, now he'd better walk the walk or the country's rednecks will be in an even greater state of outrage.
Wow..was that politically incorrect...but true. I have heard many of them spouting off and the rhetoric I hear frightens me.

Me too

Samhass, your are as smart as you are purty! :bigthumbsup: Way to go girlfriend!

I aspire to a part of the Retirement Party....

Was a Democrat, voted for Reagan..guess that makes me a Reagan Democrat, now Independent.

Can't vote for Obama.....Can't take 100 years of war McCain....