Our country is in serious trouble. The stock market has lost almost half of its value in a short period of time. This likely is the worst economic situation since the depression of the 1920s and 1930s. The budget deficit is likely to be a trillion dollars. The country remains enmeshed in a war in Iraq, which costs over $10 billion a month and there is no end in sight. The threat of terrorism looms large. Most believe that it is only a matter of time before there is another major terrorist attack in the United States. The problem of global warming is a real threat to the planet.
Rarely has an election been so important. In some years it may be easy to think that it doesn’t matter, that the presidential election won’t really affect me or that there isn’t that big difference between the candidates. This election will have a real impact on each of our lives, and there is an enormous difference between John McCain and Barack Obama.
Democrat Presidential candidate, Barack Obama
What’s the difference? An easy place to start is with the Supreme Court. Federal judges, including justices on the Supreme Court, have their jobs for life and so judicial nominations are one of any president’s longest legacies. Justice John Paul Stevens, now 88 years old, was appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975. If Chief Justice John Roberts remains on the court until he is 88, he will be there until the year 2043.
In all likelihood, there will be one or more vacancies on the Supreme Court for the next president to fill. It is unlikely that Justice Stevens will remain on the bench many more years. Also, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75 years old and there is speculation that she might retire. And there is a widely circulated rumor that Justice David Souter wants to retire and go home to New Hampshire.
All three of these justices are left of center. All, for example, are solid votes to continue to protect a woman’s right to abortion. All favor allowing colleges and universities to engage in affirmative action. All have consistently voted to provide due process to terrorism suspects.
On the other hand, the five most conservative justices are all likely to remain on the Court, absent unforeseen circumstances, for another decade or so. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, like Chief Justice Roberts, are under age 60. Both Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy are 72 years old.
Republican Presidential Candidate, John McCain
There is a huge difference between the type of individuals that a President McCain, as opposed to a
President Obama, would put on the Supreme Court. McCain says that he wants to appoint conservatives in the mold of Roberts and Alito. As a senator, he voted for both, while Obama voted against both. Obama says that he wants to appoint more liberal justices, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
What would this difference mean? There are almost certainly four votes on the current court (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito) to overrule Roe v. Wade and to allow states to ban abortions. If McCain wins, he will certainly appoint a justice who will provide the fifth (and maybe sixth and seventh) votes to end the right to abortion. But if Obama wins, he is sure to appoint a justice who will ensure that abortion remains legal and a constitutional right of women. Another example concerns affirmative action. Five years ago, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 that colleges and universities have a compelling interest in having a diverse student body and may use race as a factor in admissions to achieve this goal. They concluded that race-based affirmative action programs are constitutional. But four justices on the current court (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito) have been clear that they want to overrule this decision and end affirmative action. Again, a McCain presidency would mean the fifth vote for this, while an Obama presidency would provide Justices who would allow affirmative action to continue.
The difference between the candidates, of course, extends far beyond judicial picks. The economy is everyone’s top concern this year. McCain believes that a key part of the economic solution is to continue the Bush tax cuts, which expire in 2011, and also to further reduce taxes. McCain believes that such tax cuts will provide a stimulus for the economy and foster economic growth.
Obama, by contrast, favors increasing taxes for those who earn more than $250,000 a year. He says that the federal government needs more revenue to reduce the huge budget deficit and to provide essential government services. McCain accuses Obama of waging
class warfare, while Obama says that it is the Bush tax cuts that disproportionately help the rich, and that is the real class warfare.
The candidates also diverge as to energy and the environment. Both, of course, agree that the United
States must reduce its dependence on foreign oil. But their solutions are different. McCain stresses the need to drill for oil in coastal areas. “Drill, baby, drill,” has become an unexpected chant at Republican
political rallies. Obama, though, generally opposes offshore drilling as a serious threat to the environment and as unlikely to yield much oil. He favors much more limited offshore drilling.
Both candidates favor more nuclear power plants to generate electricity, though McCain’s support is more enthusiastic than Obama who has expressed concern about how extremely toxic radioactive wastes will be disposed. Obama emphasizes the need for conservation to decrease energy use by becoming more fuelefficient.
The candidates also could not be more different as to their views concerning the war in Iraq. McCain has been an enthusiastic supporter of the war from the outset, while Obama has been consistent in his opposition. McCain says we can win and should stay until we do. Obama fears an endless commitment and wants us to get out as soon as possible. Obama wants to see more aggressive military action in Afghanistan, the base for much of al-Qaida’s operation. Action in Afghanistan has been much less a part of McCain’s foreign policy perspectives.
Democrat Vice Presidential candidate, Joseph Biden
Finally, in comparing the tickets, there is an obvious huge difference between vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joseph Biden. The pick of vice president can really matter. During the 20th century, five of eighteen presidents left office in the middle of their terms because of death or resignation. Also, vice presidents can greatly affect government policy, as was definitely true of Dick Cheney during the Bush presidency.
Joseph Biden has been a senator for decades. He has been chair of the foreign relations committee and the judiciary committee. He brings enormous knowledge of the federal government and its operation. But he is very much the Washington insider, having spent the bulk of his professional career within the D.C. beltway. Palin, by contrast, is entirely an outsider to Washington. Her supporters believe that she brings a refreshing common sense approach to politics, as well as a deep commitment to conservative views and causes. But her critics believe that she is woefully unqualified to be vice president, let alone president of the United States.
Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin
The last two presidential elections have been extremely close. The 2000 election was determined by several hundred votes in Florida, and the 2004 election would have come out differently with a shift of 60,000 votes in Ohio. There is the prospect that again this year the election could be decided by a handful of votes in a closely divided state. So it truly is the case that each vote could determine the outcome of the election.
Never has it been more important to vote. Never has there been a clearer difference between the candidates. Never has each vote mattered more. Please vote (and get your friends, your relatives and your acquaintances to vote) on November 4. Your future — all of our futures — are at stake.
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