Do you think President Barack Obama has been a successful leader in his first term? Sure, he’s a great talker but talkers don’t necessarily make great leaders. All I heard him talk about, while he was running for President, was “Change we can believe in.” What does that mean? That statement sounds like change we can bite our teeth into but does anything in Washington politics ever really change?

As far as I can tell, Mr. Obama’s biggest accomplishment was extending unemployment benefits and bailing out executives that bankrupted their corporations. They even got millionaire dollar bonuses courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. He said he’d close down Guantanamo Bay – but he didn’t. He talks about taxing the rich – but he made $789,674 in 2011 and was only taxed a little over 20 percent. Most people make much less but pay a lot more in taxes.

The President also said we would be out of Afghanistan and Iraq. We never will. There will always be U.S. troops in those countries. Unemployment is still a huge issue and gas prices will be over $4.50 before summer is over. By the way, he’s added more to our national debt, in three years, than Bush Jr. did during his eight years as President. It’s now approaching $16 trillion or about $50 thousand for every person in the U.S.

Then we have Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney who is a multi-millionaire with several mansions earned $21.7 million in 2010 and taxed at 13.9 percent that’s a much lower tax rate than the middle-class receives. His income comes from capital gains, which are taxed differently.

Mr. Romney waffles on every subject, reminds people of an older looking Ken doll, and he’s a Mormon, which shouldn’t mean too much, but this is America, and religion plays a huge role. Romney tries to appeal to the middle-class, but for some strange reason, I don’t think that’s going to work for him. Do you own your own jet? Me neither.

Our choices for President, as well as other public offices, are extremely limited. The smartest people and greatest leaders simply don’t want to run. After all, what successful person wants all of their skeletons to come out of the closet? Why would you put your family through the hardship and mudslinging that an election brings with it?

I think it has a lot to do with ego. You know, that little thing that keeps Hollywood rolling along? It turns out our politicians have a taste for it as well. They like terms like “Senator”, “Congressman” and “President” in front of their names. It gives them that little boost that they need. Sure, they’ll talk about how they want to serve the public and how they have the best intentions of making sure everyone gets what they need. Then they run into these people that call themselves “lobbyists” and all of a sudden your dreams of a better world get put onto the back burner. After all, can you supply the amount of money it takes to win an election like a lobbyist can? I didn’t think so.

And what do you think is going to happen when they get into office? It’s called “payback.” I helped you, and now it’s your turn to help me. The campaign promises slowly disappear into the distance. Bigger items like drilling for oil become a priority. Keeping your gas prices down and making college affordable doesn’t seem to matter anymore.

You almost feel like you got duped. Guess what? You did. But what choice did you have? You feel like you have to vote for someone. It is your civic duty, but what if the choices all stink? What then? To be honest with you, I have no idea what the answer is. Maybe that’s why we have such a horrible voter turnout at every election. Less than half of all registered voters actually make it out to the polls. When I ask people why they don’t vote, most of the time they respond by saying, “Who cares? It won’t make a difference anyway.”

Incumbents love the low voter turnout. They especially like it when it rains. The odds of them staying in office are almost guaranteed. It’s the same reason we still hold elections on Tuesday – low turnout. Why don’t we give people the ability to vote on Saturday and Sunday? That would seem to make sense. The whole reason they hold election voting on the first Tuesday in November is because of a law in 1845 which allowed people to get into their wagons on Monday and head into town, which took up an entire day of traveling.

Agriculture was everything back then and November was after the fall harvest. It made sense. With today’s technology can’t we find a better solution to get more people to vote? Why can’t we cast our ballot while we’re at the ATM and get a receipt with it?

Politicians have become a running joke not only in our country, but around the world. We never expect anything from them except to frustrate us and get paid handsomely while doing it. We almost want them to screw up all the time and do as little as possible while they serve. It gives us something to complain about. Could you imagine if Congress, the President and the rest of our politicians all got along and worked together towards the common good of society instead of focusing on their own little agendas and egos? Doesn’t that just sound crazy? If that ever happens we better prepare for the end of the world because that has to be one of the signs of the apocalypse.

Instead, we’re left with another campaign season of scratching our heads, wondering where all of the smart people are hiding, and listening to the usual, political rhetoric spew out of the mouths of people who owe big donors in a big way.

I think the woman driving in front of me the other day had it correct on her bumper sticker. It said, “Somebody else for President.” I thought to myself, “You could put just about any political office in that statement, and it would make sense.” Now, there’s change I can believe in.