Obama vs. Mccain One Issue

Obama vs. McCain

One issue that both candidates disagree on is the war. Obama wants to get troops back home as soon as possible, stating, "We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate" (Obama qtd. In NYT), when the war has been as success. McCain understands that withdrawing troops abruptly will cause mayhem, realizing "The consequences of defeat would have been increased Iranian influence" (McCain qtd. In NYT). The two men also disagree on taxes, with McCain realizing how detrimental it would be on the economy if taxes were raised, saying, "I want to keep taxes low. The worst thing we could do in this economic climate is to raise people's taxes" (McCain qtd. In NYT). Obama claims, "we all would love to lower taxes on everybody" (Obama qtd. In NYT) but does not promise to do so. The economic crisis is another issue that the men disagreed upon. McCain noted "greed is rewarded, excess is rewarded, and corruption -- or certainly failure to carry out our responsibility is rewarded" (McCain qtd. In NYT) while Obama wants to "grow the economy from the bottom up" (Obama qtd. In NYT). There is only one way to encourage economic growth and both men cannot be correct. It would seem that McCain won the debate because Obama was simply too agreeable at times. He also did not seem to have a firm grasp on handling foreign matters. The comment about Pakistan seemed misplaced and not well thought out.

In his column, Thomas Sowell emphasizes how little we know about Obama's experience and how we know even less what he will do if he is elected president. Sowell does not think Obama would make a very good president for the United States and uses Obama's record as his evidence. He states, "We don't know what Barack Obama will actually do because he has actually done very little for which he was personally accountable. Even as a state legislator, he voted "present" innumerable times instead of taking a stand one way or the other on tough issues" (Sowell). Walter Williams is another columnist that also believes that Obama is not qualified to be president of the United States. He writes, "Barack Obama has charisma and charm but in terms of character, values and understanding, he is no Jackie Robinson... The basic difference between Sen. Obama, Wright and leftist professors is simply a matter of style and language" (Williams). He adds the major problems of the black community are "family breakdown, illegitimacy, fraudulent education and a high rate of criminality. To confront these problems... requires political courage and that's an attribute that Obama and most other politicians lack" (Williams). Williams realizes there is no substance to Obama.