Here is a question I would love for someone in a public forum to give to all three candidates. I have an idea as to how each would respond (if given truth serum). But I am curious as to what you think their responses would be.

"The Bush Administration has withheld vital information from Congress, refused to explain the reasoning behind policy decisions to the public, and blatantly politicized the Department of Justice, in an effort to strengthen the power of the chief executive. What is your view of the role of the executive branch and will you voluntarily roll some of these powers back or will you capitialize on the executive's new found power?"

I imagine Sen. McCain will try to portray himself as a reasonable Republican by disavowing the politicization of the Department of Justice and pledging to remove politics from AG decisions. He would probably call for a strong executive, particularly in a time of war and tell us that 9/11 changed the world.

I imagine Sen. Clinton say the same as McCain (without the 9/11 reference). She would probably agree not to be as secretive as Bush administration, particularly with Congress, to avoid attacks that she would be no different as a power-hungry executive, than Bush. I have no doubt that she would be more transparent than Bush, however her history (particularly with HillaryCare) has not borne that out, so maybe I am being kind.

I imagine Sen. Obama would decry the secrecy, rightfully blame it for deceiving the public to support the Iraq War and subsequent occupation (BTW, when are we going to stop calling it a war and start calling it an occupation?), pledge to keep the Dept. of Justice politic-free, and recall his advocacy of ethics reform to assure us that his administration would be as transparent as possible. (I can only dream that as a constitution scholar, he would question the constitutionality of Congress giving the president an authorization to wage war without a formal declaration from Congress).

What do you think, both about the question and about the response?