I’ve had a lot of reaction to the table I published in my earlier entry, The Country He Inherited, the Country He Leaves Behind. Jim, for example, asked me what my purpose was in publishing it, since George Bush isn’t running for office this time. So, let me explain what I had in mind.

Overall, let me start with this. If Al Gore had become President in 2001, 911 had happened and Gore’s numbers were the same as were in that table, I would be just as likely to publish that table in criticism of him, his administration, and his party as I would George Bush.

Regardless of which candidate is elected this fall, they will inherit a mess in January 2009. The consistency you can expect from me is I will continue to watch and comment on whether the actions taken contribute to an improvement or a continued decline in these numbers.

I used to manage salespeople in an environment where I had a lot of numbers to gauge performance. What I learned from that experience was that numbers were an indicator of the flaws in the process, but not a flaw in and of itself. If you did not change your process, then you would not change your numbers.

Selling being the intensely personal endeavor that it is, I sometimes encountered people who lacked the personal capacity to change their process and achieve success. My attitude towards that situation was this. The fact that you can’t perform adequately in your job doesn’t mean you’re an evil person. It means you don’t have what it takes to perform adequately in this job and you need to find something else you can do adequately. As a matter of fact, if you were a hard worker and not a discipline problem, then I would support re-locating you with the company if possible or to give you a reference outside the company. This also meant I needed to find someone who could perform adequately in the job. It's nothing personal. It's just business.

I also encountered people who refused to change their process and their work habits. They were not necessarily discipline problems, but they lacked the discipline to do what was necessary to succeed. They thought their way worked better, but the numbers didn’t bear that out. People like that eventually got walked out the door.

George Bush’s performance problems are not just his problems. Those problems are his party’s, as well, in two respects. First, their processes and philosophies are giving us the results they are giving us. By and large, the numbers in the table bear that out. Second, the party was complicit in allowing Bush to continue on the path to those numbers. Consequently, the blame for the numbers rests not just with Bush, but with his party, too.

When you’re in charge and your policies work, then you should get the credit. When your policies don’t work, then you should get the blame.

In this election, the Republican nominee John McCain, has said in essence that he will continue the policies of the Bush Administration. McCain has also said he will cut spending. I seriously doubt he will be able to achieve that to the level needed to balance the budget. One person’s pork barrel project is another person or region’s essential program. What is also needed is an increase in government revenue.

So in essence, one of the choices you will have on the ballot is a party and its candidates that believe its processes work better, but the numbers don’t bear that out.

One of my management mantras that also apply to parenting and voting is this. Do not reward bad behavior. Rewarding bad behavior only gets you more bad behavior. The bad behaving individual will tell you they will change. Right. The check’s in the mail and I’ll respect you in the morning.

The unhappy fact is that my inclination is to walk the Republican Party to the door. Sometimes the only way you can get people to realize they need to change is to punish them. Otherwise, they are too stuck in their comfort zone to change.

So, your alternative to the Republicans is the Democrats. For many of you, I’m sure this is a repulsive choice. I have said, and continue to say, that we need to make the changes necessary to have a viable mainstream third party to better keep all players attuned to the needs and interest of the voters. Sadly, that third party is not yet available and voting for Republicans is rewarding bad behavior. (Remember the paddling scene in Animal House? “Thank you, sir, may I have another?” Well, no, I don’t want another, thank you.)

So, what is an Independent voter to do?

After all, Republicans will tell you that if Democrats come to power they will (gasp!) raise your taxes. Let’s see if I can explain this so you can understand it. Republicans have not lowered your taxes, they have deferred your taxes. Saying your taxes has been lowered is the kind of sleight of hand a magician or a pickpocket uses to achieve their result. What we have is a situation where the government does spend too much and does not collect enough revenue in taxes to fund its expenditures, then hides what it is doing by borrowing money from the Chinese and others. That’s a major contribution to the volatility of the stock market lately and why the dollar’s value is in such decline compared to the Euro.

So, the question remains, what is an Independent voter to do? I say there are two things.

One is to enable third party and independent candidate voting. More on that someday.

The second more immediate and practical thing to do is to begin communicating with the Democratic Party and its candidates to set expectations. Basically what you say is this. “That other party has screwed it up so badly I’m going to give you a shot. But here is what I want to see happen with you. If you don’t make it happen, then next time I will find someone else who will.”

That last statement should tell you why we need a third party. If Democrats don’t deliver, then you’re forced back to Republicans. Guess what the Republicans’ message is? “Gee, you should have stayed with us and our policies.” And then you’re right back where you started. This is no different from any other kind of business relationship. When you only have two providers of an essential service, you get whipsawed between them. One can hope that punishing a political party by causing it to lose elections would cause it to change its policies. The sad fact is that the old saying about the leopard not being able to change its spots is often applicable to many things.

Your only other alternative is to begin to actively participate in the workings of one of the two parties and force change from within. I will only guarantee this. If you do nothing, then nothing will change.

Let’s get back to setting expectations with Democrats. I started trying to write some and realized its going to take me some time to properly say what I want to say. I know I’ve been promising these and I will offer them. But for now, let’s reverse things. How about you tell me? What do you think should be said to Democrats? Finish this thought with the comments section. "OK, I’m inclined to vote you this fall, but only if you will assure me of this: ________________." (Hint, what do you want in the areas of fiscal responsibility, social tolerance, and limited government that will still provide the most robust national defense possible?

I’m looking forward to your input.