Goodbye, Mr. Bush. Hello . . . . .?

In his last article on Salon.com, Sidney Blumenthal does a good job of laying out what is at stake in this next election. We're voting for more than a personality, more than a president. We're voting for the form of government we will have in the future.

Two models of the presidency are at odds, one whose founding father was George Washington, the other whose founding father was Richard Nixon. Under the aegis of Dick Cheney, who considered the scandal in Watergate to be a political trick to topple Nixon, the original vision has been entrenched and extended. Cheney is the pluperfect staff man, beginning as Donald Rumsfeld's assistant in the Nixon White House, and was aptly code-named "Backseat" by the Secret Service when he pulled the strings in the Ford White House as chief of staff. For Cheney and the president under his tutelage, eagerly acting as "The Decider" on decision memos carefully packaged by "Backseat," the Constitution is a defective instrument remedied by unlimited executive power.

It will be hard work this year, but we should look past whether we like someone or not and take a close look at their ideology and worldview which will eventually drive the decisions that are made and have a profound impact on our lives.