Obama and McCain

I've had my first email debate this election cycle with a republican friend about the relative strengths and weaknesses of McCain and Obama and I would like to examine some of the issues that came up. The debate started with an encouragement for me and some of my hippie comrades to read an article I had coincidentally just finished reading. There were some legitimate complaints, such as Obama's NAFTA tirades during the primaries in an attempt to woo more union support. However, most of the points were either wrong in my opinion based on policy differences or unfair. For example, I think Obama's foreign policy positions are needed after 8 years of warfare in place of diplomacy. I think it will make us safer and will make it harder for al Qaeda to recruit members if the US is seen as less agressive.

Furthermore, I think the article's focus on the Rev. Wright affair is wrong. Obama was criticized for first claiming that Rev. Wright was an undeniable part of his history and then disavowing him after his comments became too inflammatory. In Obama's defense, there was nothing he could do. His initial speech on race was inspiring and truthful, but Wright's subsequent tirades were too just too much. I'm sure it put Obama in a horrible position because he knew the anger that many black Americans possess but couldn't let that define his image.

As far as McCain is concerned, I do like him more than any other potential republican I can think of. I think the world would be a better place if he had won the primaries in 2000. However, there are many positions of his that are unacceptable or just not as good as Obama's. First, though I respect the position he is in to court a conservative base, he has gone back and forth on tax issues, guantanamo detainees' rights, and social issues. I don't know where he will stand during his presidency. True, changing economic situations warrant changing economic policies, but I don't see how the US will be able to afford anything if Bush's tax cuts aren't reversed. Our level of debt is just too much and I don't think he will be able or willing to cut government expenditures enough to compensate. As far as our captured enemy combatants, McCain was their biggest GOP defender until he came out so vehemently against the recent supreme court ruling granting them haebeus corpus, a right they deserve if they are not given rights as POWs. Finally, his foreign policy position is downright frightening. How would you feel as an Iranian if the US president was shown as having joked about bombing your country? I know how you would feel, the same way we feel when the Iranian or Venezuelan presidents call us the Great Satan. Such rhetoric is unacceptable.