Sometimes it pays to be a fictional character in a novel. This way I don't have to make up my mind about who to vote for.

I find the whole thing very confusing. It seems that everyone wants to change everything. Haven't we been doing anything right?

All the candidates seem to want to stay in Iraq for between sixty days, and one year, or up to one hundred years. If we don't want to set dates as to when we will leave then why have we?

On terrorism we finally seem to have struck a consensus. Every one of the potential nominees in both parties is against it. What I can't understand is whether they think it is a good thing or a bad thing that we haven't had another attack since 9/11, or is this all just politics as usual, and if so why does everyone want to change things? You can't have it both ways as far as I'm concerned. Can't we all agree we want peace and security all of the time?

When it comes to the economy again we seem to have reached a consensus that we are spending too much money, but no one can agree as to which programs to cut or why. I don't know why people of both parties argue over this because we never seem to cut anything, or is this part of the changes we are going to make, and if so to paraphrase the Old Testament. Why is this year any different from any other year?

People tell me to stay the course. This constantly befuddles me. I didn't know I was taking a course on how to or how not to win a war. I am also confused by the hue and cry to help people in the middle class. I thought we were trying to build a classless society.

On health care I am similarly confused. Are we trying to get the insurance companies to insure every one except for illnesses that they decide they will not cover, or are we asking people to set up their own health savings accounts so that they may decide not to cover themselves if it costs too much money? All I want to know is who pays and am I covered if I get sick, or you get sick, or any one you do or do not know gets sick, or if you even care?

My biggest problem is that as far as I can see: Republicans are starting to sound like Democrats, and Democrats are starting to sound like Republicans and both parties are starting to sound like Independents who evidently every body wants to be like. My question is if every one wants to be independent why aren't they? Aren't you tired of people telling you what to do and how to think? Isn't it time you formed your own independent opinion?

Please feel free to use this article if credit is given to the resource box. Copyright Arthur Levine 2008