In the best of times, the presidency is a tough job. One can come in with all sorts of high-falutin’ ideas and goals, but something always comes up to complicate things. People flying airplanes into buildings… radicals taking a bunch of diplomats hostage… It’s always some dang thing or another.

2008, of course, is not the best of times.

This morning, TMV co-blogger Jazz Shaw wrote:

I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter who wins the presidential election or how many seats each party holds in Congress. Our national leaders are going to be facing some hard times across the nation next year, and the occupant of the Oval Office may not be able to count on more than four years in the seat.

For a couple of weeks now, my thinking has run along exactly these same lines.

Pick your favorite analogy: the “bottomless” financial well is running dry; the money tree is nearly bare. However you choose to look at it, we’re about to scrape the bottom of the barrel — and although both campaigns are publicly dodging reality at the moment, there’s really no getting around it.

If McCain or Obama forge ahead with their promises, the nation will be economically crushed — perhaps permanently. If they don’t (and frankly, they can’t), they’ll be despised by their “base”. Worse yet, any path they choose will not improve the coming economic difficulties for our nation in the short run, or the medium.

Even if the future holds no surprises (yeah, right!), a President Obama or a President McCain is going to be supremely unpopular. The next administration may not make George Bush look like the Homecoming King in comparison, but it might be close. Not only that, but in 2012 (or even 2010), people won’t be blaming the administration that came before.

They’ll blame whoever is in office then.

I think if I were Michelle or Cindy, I’d be gently suggesting that Dear Husband sit this next four years out.