The 2008 presidential election has two choices. The choice to put “Country First,” or “Change We Can Believe In.” Sen. John McCain has a history of putting country first, and his policies show that. Sen. Barack Obama’s slogan is Change We Can Believe In. Is Obama really for change, and is the change put out by Obama really believable? A lot can be said of a candidate that can follow his own slogan.
Iraq: McCain’s experience in war and as a POW gives testament to the fact that he understands what the men and women are going through in Iraq and Afghanistan. He understands that neither they nor he wants to be there any longer then it will take to finish the job. Pulling focus off Iraq could threaten the region further and the troop force that is necessary to keep things stable.
Obama’s plan is not about relocating troops home, it is about relocating troops to Afghanistan. McCain’s plan is to get the troops home as quickly as possible while accomplishing the mission. Obama has a plan that will pull out troops from Iraq, but these troops are not coming home, they are being sent to Afghanistan for a troop surge.
Why does Obama think a troop surge in Afghanistan will work when he didn’t think it would work in Iraq? Iraq today is more stable than Afghanistan, and to compare the two, it would look as though things are great in Iraq and that troop pullout might work. This is not the case.
To pull out of Iraq without a stable government in place would send the country into civil war. The question that has never been asked of either candidate is: “If there is a civil war in Iraq, are you ready to send troops back to the region in a peace-keeping mission, no matter how unpopular it might be?”
Obama’s plan for Iraq is a false hope. Estimates of residual troops under the Obama plan include a force that could be as large as 50,000. Obama is looking at 35,000. 50,000 was the estimated number of US soldiers that would be in Iraq when the troop surge was first purposed and would be enacted. 35,000-50,000 isn’t an auxiliary force but the armed forces in full force.
Foreign Policy: McCain has been a leader with experience in foreign policy. He has made good judgments in this area since the campaign began. Obama has little to no experience and has fumbled through this issue, finally settling on what McCain has already stated. A good example is what both candidates said about the Georgia conflict. Just because you hold a large rally while visiting Germany in the same places where Adolf Hitler used to speak does not count as foreign policy experience.
Economy: McCain is on the record as not knowing a whole lot about economic issues. The first step in fixing a problem is admitting that you have one. Obama is looking to increase taxes and government spending. Economists are quick to tell you this is not a mixture for steady economic growth. They will tell you McCain is better for the economy even with his lack of knowledge on the subject. Cutting government spending and not raising taxes will put more money in the current rattled consumer’s hand.
However, no matter who is elected, economic trends show the economy will start on an upswing after the Nov. 4 election. The question is how long will the upswing last?
Character: Obama stood in front of a podium with a seal resembling that of president of the United States. The ego of Obama is exemplified in this. Obama denied knowledge of the seal. Obama, who had said that there would be no personal attacks and only political ones, went back on that promise when he put out an ad that condemned McCain’s knowledge of technology, which is actually due to injuries sustained while serving in Vietnam. Obama distanced himself from the ad saying he knew nothing about it. If you can’t run a campaign, you can’t run a country.
Obama supported a campaign finance reform bill only to opt out of it in the first presidential election after it was enacted. He was more concerned with spending more money than the principles he stood up for on the congress floor. McCain is for changing his mind when new knowledge comes up but he stood by that same reform bill he supported.
If Obama is elected it will be a huge blow to the campaign reform that has been put through Congress because Obama could not follow through with his support. Time and time again Obama has shown his ego getting in the way of serving the American people. McCain has dedicated his life and has made choices to support the American public. It was McCain that said, “I would rather lose an election than lose a war.” Time and time again McCain has shown that he wants what is best for America and not his own popularity.