Uh, I have an Econ degreee from a rather prestigious university as well. You can easily make this statement, but you can easily build a case against it also.

Let's face the facts. Extremely little of what goes on in the Whitehouse dictates what happens in the economy, contrary to popular belief. Aside from bully'in the FED, the US economy basically runs in cycles. I could bore you to death for the next hour about this, but the cliff notes version is jobs, rates, inflation, etc. The pres is basically bent over and takes on the stepchild from whatever the previous administration tried to do, and then does their spin. The fact of the matter is, every 7 to 10 years you are going to have an extreme rally, a solid pull back, and few micro rallies in between. Need proof? Where were you in 73, 81, 90 98, and today?

During these times we had Watergate, Billy beer, the Cowboy (my Fav) and the Cigar,er smoker. Out of all of these rallies, the only one I feel was really affected by the Pres was the Reagan era, (Reaganomics for those keeping score).

This year is similar to the other years in that:

A) Bush took over a crap economy.
B) There isn't a sh!tload to do other than let it run it's course (anybody notice the rate increase last week, right on cue).
C) Who the F cares about the other crap these clowns spew thinking it's what we want to hear as voters.

Saddest part is, the most noble politician in recent times is Arnold. Not saying anything about right or wrong, but his approach sure is refreshing, he can't be bought (time will tell).

How does all of this relate to fishing? You can try to bend it back to the presidency all you want, but the fact of the matter is our wonderful State has ten fold more to do with the current state of fish around here. Our State poilticians could easily correct what we, the sportmen, feel is wrong and the inequalities present, but they haven't. Quick question. When was the last time our state was run by republicans.

Hey Superfly, can you hear me now?

Spout off what you want, but the fishing has gone in the toilet under the watch of the Democrats. Name anything that your golden boy Locke has done to correct it. You can't, and the reason is he has his tongue 2' up the crack of the commercials along with other private interests. Fishing in this area will not be greatly affected until the thinking in this state changes drastically. It really has nothing to do with who the heck is in the whitehouse.

The only question for us sportsman is, who will show up with the answer? Neither party has to date (what's his name (John Carlson?) tried last run but lost), and I haven't seen anything that shows promise out of those running currently.

I could personally give a rip if the person is a Dem or a Rep. I'm looking for a champion for what I believe in. I have a feeling their is a majority with similar thoughts out there, rather close to the center of the partisanship. Problem is, there is no VALID representationship for this way of thinking. Hard to believe that a solid candidate hasn't platformed the center (and no, Nader isn't an option).

Dismount soapbox, grab new drink. That's better now.