It was Albert Einstein who said that insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results. With President Bush’s approval rating standing at an anemic 25%, it is clear that the country has deemed him a lame duck. With innumerable incidences of failed policy, ineffectual leadership, unrestrained cronyism, loose ethics and general incompetence, what this administration has accumulated is staggering. From the unnecessary, poorly planned and least of all illegal war in Iraq, to the pathetic and downright inhuman handling of Hurricane Katrina, to the mockery they have made of fiscal conservatism, to the dismemberment of the Constitution, this administration has left a dark cloud that will haunt our country for many years.

While John McCain has tried to distance himself from Bush at every possible point, the rift between him and our president only seemed to begin shortly after he won the Republican nomination. When Democratic talking heads use the term “over 90%,” it can in fact get a little confusing. By looking deeper into the statistics however, you will quickly see just how close John McCain stuck to this President. He has supported President Bush on privatizing Social Security, Iraq, free trade, virtually all social issues, education, and court nominations. Of the few times he has opposed this president, he has a distinct trend of changing his mind when it is politically convenient. He opposed the Bush tax cuts the first time around but mysteriously changed his mind and supported his president when voting to renew them. Thought McCain led the fight to end torture in the United States army, he shortly thereafter voted against banning waterboarding. What this man has created is not a maverick record but merely a maverick reputation.

Which is why when Obama uses the word “change” he is not just throwing out a hollow catch phrase—it is a call back to competent and responsible government. This is not to suggest that his party affiliation will automatically make him a superior president. But if we are to pull ourselves out of the holes our last president has dug, we need a president with the intellectual depth and curiosity to calm Wall Street at this most critical time, and the judgment and temperament to respond forcefully, but not aggressively, to our enemies. If you judge leadership solely by the length of time served in a high office, then by all means John McCain should be our next president. But if leadership stems from a strong understanding of the problems afflicting the county, sound sober judgment, and a constant drive to selflessly serve your country, then Senator Barack Obama should be our next president.