If John McCain is in search of another game changer, I have a suggestion. He can name his Treasury secretary now. That could force Barack Obama to do the same or be left out of the most significant conversation remaining in the campaign.

Given the events of the past month, the Treasury has become one of the most powerful posts in the nation, eclipsing any role to be assumed by the next vice president and on par with the traditional big three Cabinet positions of defense secretary, attorney general and secretary of state.

Oversight of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout signed into law last week ensures a continuation of the growing power of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, former head of of the Goldman Sachs investment bank and securities firm. Most thought his brokering of the $168 billion economic stimulus package earlier this year would be the pinnacle of his lame-duck reign. Hah! It was only the start.

Paulson has been described as the point man in the government's rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the $5.4 trillion in residential mortgages it guarantees. It was apparently Paulson who decided to let investment bank Bear Stearns live, and Lehman Brothers die. Before the Federal Reserve agreed to lend AIG $85 billion to keep the insurance giant afloat, Paulson demanded the head of its CEO.

This is the type of power the next Treasury secretary will inherit and be forced to wield.

Paulson's successor will, in essence, become our economy czar, far exceeding in importance the monetary policy role of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who lacks the Washington influence of predecessors Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker.

Who will lead the nation out of what's been portrayed as the most significant economic threat since the Depression, needs to be debated before Election Day. The selections made by Obama and McCain will say more about how they will lead the country than any campaign ad or debate quip.

I DON'T WANT ANOTHER PAULSON. I've got nothing against the guy, but expecting a former Wall Street investment banker to fix the mess that investment bankers helped create seems a bit na•ve and not a smart move. That Paulson appointed another Wall Streeter, assistant Treasury secretary and former Goldman Sachs exec Neel Kashkari, to administer the $700 billion bailout underscores the appearance that Wall Street insiders are still in charge of the purse.

The primary argument for insiders is that they have critical first-hand knowledge and understanding of the increasingly complicated and globally intertwined credit and financial markets, essential to navigating the economy through these choppy waters.

I don't buy it. It's the same type of thinking says former drug addicts make great substance abuse counselors.

Our next Treasury secretary should be an outsider, someone like BB&T chief John Allison, who correctly pointed out that the bailout not only rewards irresponsible borrowers but props up poorly run financial institutions.

I've had my fill of bankers whining that they had little choice but to make high-risk loans as the housing bubble grew. Baloney. Market conditions don't dictate business ethics and morality.

Now more than ever, money makes the world go round. Before I go to the ballot box, I want to know who will be spinning the wheel.

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