...the more they stay the same.

from the 1990's Book of Lists:

Walter Mondale's 10 Things He Would Have Done If Elected President

Walter Mondale, Democratic vice-president under Jimmy Carter, ran unsuccessfully against Ronald Reagan for the presidency in 1984. If he had been given the chance, these are some of the things he would have liked to have done:

1. RAISED TAXES: Higher Taxes had to be a part of any real solution to America's fiscal crisis, which instead only got worse. In 1984 the budget deficit was $186 billion and the total federal debt was $1.6 trillion. By 1992 the budget deficit had grown to $320 billion and the total debt was more that $4 trillion.

As of September 2008, the total U.S. federal debt was approximately $9.7 trillion, about $31,700 per capita (according to Wikipedia) or an increase of about 60% since the year 2000. Actually, it's kind of refreshing to hear a politician say he'd raise taxes, a position about as popular these days among voters as doing chores is with teenagers (image what life would be like if teens could elect their parents, and hey! presto! you've got congressional budget policy).

2. TOLD THE TRUTH: See #1

Need I say anything here? I mean, I'm not even sure where to start. WMDs, Alberto Gonzales, the entire Cheney vice (co)-presidency? The list of lies, spin, and deceptions is overwhelming.

3. OBEYED THE LAW: One of the most disturbing developments in modern American government is that some presidents seem to think they do not have to obey the law like everyone else. Thus the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals.

See #2. After that, shall we go on to signing statements? I'd also point out that the worst offenders by far are Republicans.

4. IMPROVED THE FAIRNESS OF THE TAX SYSTEM: During the 80's, the tax burden on the low- and moderate-income Americans went up, while the tax burden on the richest Americans went down.

"Since 2001, President Bush's tax cuts have shifted federal tax payments from the richest Americans to a wide swath of middle-class families, the Congressional Budget Office has found...". So it got worse.
Nothing we didnt know already, and something the McCain campaign is still lying about.

5. CONTROLLED AMERICA'S RUNAWAY HEALTH-CARE COSTS: In 1984 total health-care spending was $390 billion - about 10.3 percent of the gross national product. By 1992 health-care costs had grown to more than $800 billion - almost 14 percent of GNP.

In 2007, total national health expenditures were expected to rise 6.9 percent — two times the rate of inflation.1 Total spending was $2.3 TRILLION in 2007, or $7600 per person.1 Total health care spending represented 16 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Just out of curiosity, how does this figure compare to how much you paid in income taxes last year? My health insurance costs about $5000 a year not including all the co-pays. This was the cheapest plan available, with our choices ranging from this plan to one as much as over $12,000 a year (through my wife's teaching job). Tell me again that socialized medicine will cost me more.

6. STOOD UP TO THE WORLD'S DICTATORS: For too many years there was an insidious distinction in American foreign policy between the dictators who were "friendly" or "unfriendly". Any ruler who terrorizes his own citizens should not be considered a friend of the United States.

No difference, except that now they're called "Allies in the War Against Terror", or states that "sponsor" terrorism.

7. HALTED AMERICA'S ILLEGAL WAR AGAINST NICARAGUA: This not-so-secret "covert war" shamed the United States in the eyes of the world community and showed our government in blatant violation of its own stated commitment to the rule of law in international affairs.

Well, thank God we're no longer shaming ourselves with covert wars.

8. ELIMINATED THE STAR WARS STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE: As its name suggests, Star Wars was never anything but a fantasy - a very dangerous and expensive fantasy.

"Star Wars" is dead, right? Now we've got a "missile defense" and I'm sure it works much better.

9. WORKED TO RESTORE PUBLIC TRUST IN GOVERNMENT: Lincoln once said: "With public trust, everything is possible; without it, nothing is possible."

The Republican position, for decades now, has been that the government cannot be trusted to do anything. Americans seem to like that position, and so we elect them to office, and, sure enough, they're right!
There's nothing quite so accurate as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

10. ENROLLED IN A CLASS ON HOW TO SPEAK ON TV: This is the one thing I learned from Ronald Reagan.

This may be saddest one of the bunch. Not because Walter Mondale feels the need to brush up on his telepresence, but because there actually is a need to do so. We might as well call our elections Pageants, and bring on the spray tan, botox and doublestick tape (oh, wait, never mind, too late).
If I could afford to hire a gardener, I'd be worried about whether he knew anything about horticulture, not what religion is he (or if he is a she), does he look like a gardener, has he ever smoked pot, or his opinions about Neil Sperry. What I want to know is, will he make my yard look good, or will he kill it? Any applicant for the gardener position who tells who tells me that gardens should be allowed to grow wild because gardening is futile (but that he looks great holding a hoe in a pair of coveralls) isnt going to get the job. I'm hiring a gardener for his knowledge of gardening, not his wardrobe. So why should it be any different in an election for the people we hire to run our country?

Interesting to think what the country might have been like today had we elected ol' Fritz to lead us. Would Clinton have triangulated us to the right so far if we had?