Nice Start, but Can it Make it Around the Block?

After last night’s debates, I couldn’t help but think about a piece I read on FederalTimes.com the other day about something that’s been missing from the debates, and from the election in general. The candidates can give us the general rundown about the policies, issues, and how they are going to fix this broken economy until they’re blue in the face. But really when you get down to it, how much of all the change is going to be done by them?

Now I’m not saying the President doesn’t do anything, but isn’t it really the 3,000+ employees under the administration that is going to be implementing the changes and policies? Finding the bugs, working out the details, working ridiculous hours, and missing their kid’s soccer games? I think it would be prudent for the candidates to have discussed in at least a little detail those people.

Voters don’t have any real indication as to who will be appointed to the crucial cabinet positions and their staff, and that seems a little silly. It’s kind of like buying a car and simply making sure the car starts. It doesn’t take a genius to know that you should at least make sure the car is capable of getting you around the block before you buy it, right?

So why exactly aren’t Cabinet positions and other appointed positions discussed before an election? The Vice President is. As Mark A. Abramson and Paul R. Lawrence pointed out in the times piece, maybe those are things that should be discussed immediately following the parties conventions.

Americans should understand that they’re not just voting for two guys, they are voting for an entire administration. Each one whose experience, passion, and work ethic are just as vital to helping America change as the guy reviewing the papers and signing his name at the end of the day.

I agree with Mark A. Abramson and Paul R. Lawrence. Announce the cabinet positions after the conventions. That leaves plenty of time for them to be vetted and investigated in the summer leading up to the conventions, and in turn gives the American people time to get to know the people who are really going to be doing the footwork and making sure change really happens.

Especially in an election like this, where so much is riding on the outcome and the ability of not just of the President, but of the entire administration. An administration that’s going to have a lot of work to do.