More Pizza, Pop & Recess

In the 4th grade I ran for class president in Mr. Anderson's (no relation to me) class. I had never really thought about going into student council, but I did not like Bridget H. who happened to be running for class president at the time. So in the spirit of this great nation, I decided the best thing to do would be running against her. Since student council is almost always decided by popularity instead of actual ability, I figured I had a good chance at beating her. Kids liked me. Kids did not like Bridget. So I made some hefty "campaign promises," and ran under the banner of more pizza, pop & recess for all 4th graders. Needless to say, my campaign was very popular and when it came time to do class speeches I easily crushed poor Bridget (who was extremely intelligent and actually probably knew what she was doing versus me). Well I lasted about 2 months on the job as I routinely forget student council meetings, did not do well at actually reporting back to my classroom what was discussed, and pretty much did not know what the heck I was doing. Oh, and there was definitely no increase in the amount of pizza, pop or recess. Mr. Anderson gently removed me from my post and put Bridget in, who probably should've been there in the first place. What's the point? I seriously am beginning to wonder if McCain or Obama actually know what they are doing, and if either of them have any shot of actually being able to pull off what they are promising. Things like universal healthcare, tax cuts, and massive increase in budget for public education all sound great. But can they all realistically be pulled off without putting the national government in even bigger debt and increasing the economic downturn this country is now facing? I doubt it. This election seems to be coming down to who can make the biggest boasts, largest promises, and who looks the best while doing those things. My worry is that shortly into the new term for whomever wins, we will all realize that like me in the 4th grade, we elected someone with style and popularity, but with no real ability or substance to pull off and do what is needed most.