Want to be President?

In the USA Today, Susan Page wonders:

Why exactly would anybody want this job?

The candidate who wins the White House on Nov. 4 will face the most calamitous economy for any new president since Franklin Roosevelt took over amid the Depression in 1933. He'll assume command of the biggest wartime deployment of U.S. troops since Richard Nixon was sworn in during the Vietnam War in 1969.

The bigger the obstacles that you have to overcome; the greater the rewards are when you succeed. Additionally, America faces a critical choice in this election. Choose one way, and America may very well choose poverty, choose another way and America may very well choose prosperity. Both parties believe that their way brings prosperity, while the other party's way brings poverty. Hence, both parties should feel that winning this election is critical. I hope America chooses wisely.

Fred Barnes' Crystal Ball

Fred Barnes has seen the future, and it is not pretty:

...the worst case scenario is now a distinct possibility: a Democrat in the White House, a Democratic Senate with a filibuster-proof majority, and a Democratic House with a bolstered majority.

If this scenario unfolds, Washington would become a solidly liberal town
again for the first time in decades. And the prospects of passing the liberal
agenda--nearly all of it--would be bright. Enacting major parts of it would be
even brighter.

...permit organized labor to unionize the private sector without winning a
certification election by secret ballot....

...Democrats might go after.... right-to-work laws....

...killing conservative talk radio--[via] the so-called fairness doctrine--would stand an excellent chance of becoming law....

...Obama would nominate liberals to fill Supreme Court vacancies....

...free trade agreements would become a thing of the past...

...[Obama's] described [his health care plan] as step or two away from a single payer, government-run health system like Canada's....

...Obama has called for increasing the tax rate on capital gains, dividends, and the income of top earners, and raising the cap on payroll taxes. But tax hikes would worsen, not stimulate, a weak economy....

...cap and trade.... would drive up the cost of energy, another downer for the economy....

...a quick troop exit from Iraq and presidential-level talks with anti-American
dictators.

Unfortunately, my crystal ball does not look any better than Fred Barnes.