Election 2008, Fred is IN! (I'm feigning surprise, can you tell?)

A campaign in 2007-8 based on a strong belief in Federalism?

I want to believe.

He's not running for President, he's running for James Madison.

I'm cool with that.

Specific proposals I'd like to see in support of stronger federalism, dismantle more than half the cabinet level positions.

A cabinet of six is plenty, State, Defense, AG, combine Interior/Agriculture/Energy into the Department of Gaia, combine Treasury/Commerce/Labor into the Department of Prosperity, Combine Homeland Security/Transportation and call it Transportation, and eliminate HUD, HHS, Education and Veteran Affairs, not because those things are unimportant, but because all those things would be better served as primarily (if not purely) state and local concerns, and the massive reduction of the cabinet is fully justifiable on 10th amendment grounds.

That's what I'd like to see as a first step towards believing Sen. Thompson's federalism. Promise to slash the size of the Executive branch, and I'll be very impressed.

Another proposal I'd like to see would be a reining in of the creeping (and creepy) influence of the Vice President. It wasn't just VP Cheney who did this, VP Gore did some pretty shady things, too. The VP should just be an understudy, and senatorial tie-breaker, nothing more. I'd love to see a Presidential candidate promise to gimp the newly muscular Vice Presidency before he goes through the selection process.

Do those two things, and I'm liable to turn this into an all Fred08.com all the time website.