A multiple choice test was always a love/hate thing for me. I loved it because I only had to have a general knowledge of the subject to have a good chance of getting the right answer and I hated it because a lot of the time the answers were so much a like that one word could make it right or wrong. Then there was always that stinger at the end... either D or E that stated "none of the above".

Here we are in an election year and at this point we really don’t know who will be the final choices to be the next president of these United States. We could wind up with three or even four on the final choice list to pick from.

One of the things that all of them want to do is to make a change. That little phrase has been the core of every candidate since Webster put the word in his dictionary. They tell us that if we make a change that everything is going to be rosy for the next four years and that all our problems will be solved because they are going up there to Washington, DC and cause a big change.

What we haven’t heard from any of the candidates is their goals and their purpose for their making change. Now don’t get me wrong. I am all for making changes in Washington and if you have a couple of hours I could expound on them but for now I will just say we do need change. We, however, more than change, need direction and purpose. The person who can promise to deliver those types of changes can almost be guaranteed a landslide victory come November.

In any part of this great country at any one time, someone somewhere can come up with an idea of how to make a million dollars. If he wants the backing he needs to achieve that goal he must submit a very detailed business plan. A plan that will spell out the objectives of the venture and the ultimate goal. In it he or she will spell out the plan in such a way as to show how much it will cost and how many people will be involved in achieving the success of the plan.

Why do we not demand and expect our elected officials to do the same thing? To simply declare that we need change and not have any specifics is just spouting empty words. To expound on one party’s view and to say that one is the right one is not making changes to benefit the country. It is simply saying "we want to make a change so we control what transpires in Washington for the next term of office".

We don’t need change if it doesn’t benefit the citizens. We don’t need change if it doesn’t set new goals and purpose to our nation. Anyone can come in and create changes in tax and spend programs. Everyone who has gone to Washington has declared making changes, only to fall into that same old, same old, rut that has been the rule in Washington since World War ll.

What we really need are candidates that purpose direction for the country that will solve the problems of this nation instead of adding to those we already have. We need candidates that can clearly state that what they purpose to do will have a positive impact on the nation. We need a candidate that jumps out on the page when we enter the ballot booth. One that will give us a business plan for our government and then carry it out once he or she takes the helm in the White house.

Other wise we should add that D or E to the ballot and simply vote "none of the above".