How Obama, McCain Differ on Key Issues

Where do Obama and McCain stand on key issues? 

While a sliver of difference existed between Clinton and Obama, an Obama-McCain matchup offers a chasm in thought and approach on everything from housing and the economy to the war in Iraq.

The general election contest needs to address serious questions about how each candidate would govern. Here’s where Obama and McCain stand on three key issues.

McCain: He has been accused of embracing the principle of judicial restraint only to bolster his credibility with staunch conservatives. In blasting "common and systematic abuse of federal courts," he wants to confirm "better" judges, the kind who will limit court authority and avoid rulings on policies he thinks should be handled legislatively. He cites, for example, a 9th Circuit Court ruling declaring references to a nation "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional. Conservatives contend the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence et al. vs. Texas, a sodomy criminalization case targeting gays, overstepped judicial authority, negating the right of states to make law. McCain would likely pick judges who adhere to that more socially conservative state’s rights view…     

Obama: Recognizing that most lower court decisions aren’t contentious because judges are required to simply apply the law or correct errors, he favors judges at every level who have a broad vision of the Constitution and are willing to address the needs of marginalized groups without the access and pull to have grievances addressed in other democratic spheres.

While conservatives regard Roe vs. Wade as a keystone of judicial activism and yearn for its reversal, Obama has pledged to protect a woman’s right to an abortion, calling it "one of the most fundamental rights we possess."

McCain: He favors market-based approaches to making health insurance more accessible, portable and affordable. A key proposal is to offer a tax credit of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to offset insurance costs.

Obama: He favors a form of universal health insurance, with those covered by employer-sponsored plans paying cheaper premiums. The uninsured would gain voluntary access to a national plan that encourages affordability and can be taken from job to job.

Obama would mandate insurance coverage of children and allow adults up to 25 to stay with their parents’ health insurance plans. He would expand Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover the poorest Americans.

McCain: He has been a consistent hawk on defense and regards the U.S. presence in Iraq as critical to fighting the war on terror. While he says U.S. troops need to stay in Iraq for decades, he says he has been quoted out of context on his statement that the United States could have forces in Iraq for "maybe 100" years. Whatever that presence entails, he says, it will not be in a combat capacity.

"The war will be over soon . . . although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years," he said. "But it will be handled by Iraqis, not by us."

Obama: He has always opposed the war in Iraq and wants to focus on finishing up in Afghanistan as the appropriate response in the war on terror.

He wants to get out of Iraq immediately, with a phased withdrawal of combat troops to be completed in a year. He wants Iraqis to govern themselves and views the role of America and the U.N. as leaders to help establish a framework for Iraqi self-rule.

Thanks to Robert Owen for submitting this article.

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