So…Watched the Republican convention this week. I have long felt leanings toward the republican party, but I’ve not been inspired to pay that much attention.
Until now.
So I watched, and I was duly inspired. And then I hit the internet hard to see what other people thought. I read the columnists and the head bloggers.
And then I read the comments.
“Chris, everyone keeps saying that the candidates didn’t talk about the issues. But both McCain and Palin did bring up a bunch of issues!”
He is more jaded, having been in tune with politics for longer than I. “People hear what they want to hear. They have an issue in mind, and if the speech doesn’t mention their issue, they say ‘they’re not talking about issues!'”
Hmm…Good point.
But a speech is only so long. And everyone wants the speeches to be full of energy and dynamism. I’m sorry, but issues are not that interesting to listen to. Percentages and statistics make people go for a bathroom break.
So it’s not fair to criticize a candidate for not talking about issues in a speech. Speeches are not the medium for that.
What is?
THE WEB.
So I hit their respective websites. Oh LORD, there is a lot of information there. Both Obama and McCain have put up a ton of positions on various topics. It would take a week to sift through all these.
Knowing that the mention of a topic does not indicate a pro or con position, only that the topic deserved some attention, I made a list of what these guys listed on their websites.
These are taken from McCain’s website and Obama’s website
Overlapping issues
Economy
Education
Energy (Energy & Environment per Obama)
Ethics (Ethics Reform per Mccain)
Healthcare
Immigration
Iraq
Rural (Agricultural Politics per Mccain)
Technology
Veterans
National Security (Defense per Obama)
Obama unique
Disability
Faith
Family
Fiscal
Foreign Policy
Homeland Security
Poverty
Rural
Service
Seniors and Social Security
Urban Policy
Women
Additional Issues
Mccain unique
Climate Change
2nd Amendment
Judicial Philosophy
Fighting Crime
Natural Heritage
Sanctity of Life
Space Program
There is good overlap, but the differences are interesting. The amount of information on these is staggering. It’s a LOT of reading, and I am somewhat ashamed of neglecting my duty as a citizen because I didn’t start researching this sooner.
The “Faith” issue on Obama’s side was interesting, so I clicked on that. Disappointing. 2 quotes from other people about the importance of a speech he gave, and then a YouTube of the speech.
I believe this is atypical of Obama’s entries, though.
McCain’s National Heritage this was also intrigueing, since Chris and I just got back from Yosemite National Park. He and I want to visit all the National parks in our life together. McCain says he thinks national parks are important, and he also brought up Fish&Game as a tool for conservation. Wetlands and Open Space are something he wants to preserve. Nice.
And the Space Program! Mccain specifically mentioned the Space Program! Exciting, since I will never forget the year I worked for NASA. McCain is pro space program. For two purposes: advancing reseatch and to keep national pride. huh. I wouldn’t have been so sentimental about national pride, but perhaps as a military guy, he has a keen eye for the practical usefulness of high morale. But as far as the research part, i am SO for that. Two things that came from the space program, without which our lives would be unthinkably poorer:
I started to read their respective takes on the economy, but it was complicated. That will take more time. I’ll report next week what I find.