With under a month left until election day, there is one thing I want: a reset button. Basically, these candidates stink no matter which way you lean. I, for one, wish I could go back and push more of my fellow caucus-goers to elect a more formidable candidate to run this country. Here are some really sad facts:

There is no question that both Obama and McCain could easily get their parties to vote with them on any issues, just because that is the political system. In Congress, it is mainly about falling in line with the rest of the party, and not with constituents’ demands. It is also no question that George W. Bush is as popular as kicking a puppy, with a job approval rating of 26.8 percent.

According to realclearpolitics.com, Congress has an even lower approval rating: 16.8 percent. I realize that Sens. McCain and Obama are only a small fraction of Congress and are not the only reasons for this low approval rating, but I still want to know why we should elect either of these men from such a lousy Congress. If Congress is so bad that they make it look like George Bush is doing a decent job, should we even consider putting a member of it into the White House? Really, we should not elect either. I mean, 16.8 percent — that’s low.

Let’s take a look at exactly how low. A Gallup poll in 1999 showed that 20 percent of Americans believed that the sun revolves around the Earth. So essentially, more Americans then believed that the sun revolves around the Earth, than now approve of the job that Congressional members, including John McCain and Barack Obama, are doing.

Now that leap is a pretty big one to make, but it really puts in perspective just how bad this Congress is. It’s not just about job approval ratings that indicate neither Obama nor McCain is fit to lead. It is also in their politics.

Obama has done the best job ever of running a campaign. He has gone the furthest anyone has ever gone in politics doing just about as little as possible. He gets away with just beating the hope and change battle drums and doing nothing else.

Obama was sworn into the Senate on January 4, 2005, and has only served 144 days in the Senate. This is actually a overstatement, due to the fact that, instead of actually fighting for change on the Senate floor, Obama has been out campaigning for his own glory since February 12, 2007. I will give him credit though: He has voted more than McCain has during the race.

The first problem is that Obama is the great appeaser. He tells people exactly what they want to hear and is babied by the media. We don’t need a president who is going to baby us, we need one who is going to lead us. If Obama was really committed to changing things, then he needs to lead by example and get down there on the Senate floor, where he is in the majority, and do work. Until he does that, he will be hope for change, and nothing more.

There are also issues with his policies too. While we are throwing out the Constitution and bailing out every single company that made awful choices, we can’t possibly afford more spending. If you look at what Sen. Obama is pushing in his first term, not only would he match the current president in spending, but he would in fact outspend ole’ W. He claims to reach across party lines, but is there one bill out there in which the great uniter has reached across the aisle to work with Republicans? There is also the question of Iraq, for those of you who still pay attention to that.

Obama was originally against the troop surge, until he found out it worked. You can’t find out what he said about it on his Web site, only that he opposes the war. Frankly, Obama is unqualified and not tough enough to make the hard decisions that the president has to make, but I’m sure Europe would still love to have him. That is more than fine.

My friends, let’s not forget John McCain in all this mess. A man whose social security number is in the single digits and who calls himself a maverick.

McCain has recently changed his stance on issues like drilling, taxes and many other issues just to make conservatives happy. As much as I like most of what the new McCain is saying, I’m not fooled. He is still for big-budget government and, on some issues, wants to start nannying us as well. He has basically all but quit doing the job we all pay him to do. Really, there is not much bad to say about the man, but not enough good to actually have him be president.

I am really down because it is the first time I ever get to vote, and basically my two choices stink bad enough to make a buzzard puke. Is there a better candidate of the two? Yes, but frankly that does not mean much. This is what we have to live with, and you know, they will look good when compared to the Bush administration. Now the only questions I have left, and I know are echoed by many, is this: Can I still vote for Romney?

— Justan Spaid is a sophomore in history from McCallsburg.