One of the really big reasons I have for feeling that it's ultimately unimportant which candidate becomes president is that the power of the president, while great, is still severely limited. Certainly, a strong president can usually manage to get things moving in the direction he wants, like Reagan did. But ultimately, the president must answer to Congress.

Sure, Bush sent us into Iraq and Afghanistan. But where did the money come from to keep us there, and to pay for all of those Haliburton contracts? Why, from Congress!

Sure, Bush pushed for a financial bailout of the crumbling banks. But who passed a bill containing so much crap, like the wooden arrows tax break? Congress!

Who creates laws which are costly for people to abide by, then exempts themselves from those laws? Congress again!

True, it's not quite as simple as this sounds. I'm simplifying enormously. But ultimately, nothing gets done without at least the tacit approval of Congress. The president cannot directly pass laws.

What really scares the hell out of me this year is that, with the financial problems we're having, right before election, we're probably going to see a Democrat in the White House while at the same time seeing even more Republicans losing seats in the Congress. That could make it much easier for far left legislation to become law, which may not be a good thing, for America or for the rest of the world.