Aaron’s Blog

I am currently undecided for the upcoming election, but wanted to take a few notes from McCain and Obama’s speeches this evening, now that Obama has wrapped up the Democratic nomination. Here is a basic pro / con list from my point of view. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list — rather it’s what came to mind while watching the speeches tonight.

McCain - Pros

• Proven record of working with candidates across the aisle — moderate history in Senate.
• Most likely to balance the budget or get closest to it and eliminate more pork barrel spending — if he can do in the White House what he has promoted in the Senate.
• Impressive resume.

McCain - Cons

• Appears very “pro war”. Although, one could say he maybe has a more cohesive strategy for dealing with the situation as it has been handed down.
• Doesn’t inspire.

Obama - Pros

• Only candidate to not pander in support of the economically foolish “gas tax holiday”.
• Definitely has the ability to inspire a change in direction and course.
• “Change is realizing that meeting today’s threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy…”
• Seems more in touch with struggles of middle-class America.
• “Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth.”

Obama - Cons

• Supports increasing protectionism, e.g. anti-free-trade.
• Hasn’t been to Iraq. Perhaps not a big deal in and of itself, but one could safely say he’s lacking in foreign policy experience.
• Still arguably ambiguous on the programs and the specifics of what kinds of change he wants to bring.
• Very short resume.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.