A few months ago I wrote about my thoughts on the Presidential candidates while Hillary Clinton was still in the race. Now that we have Barack Obama and John McCain as the nominees though I thought I would update my post a bit. As a reminder I consider myself both fiscally and socially conservative so I freely admit to leaning toward McCain however I do my best to try and look at the individual strengths and weaknesses of the candidates.
John McCain
Strengths
- Ability to work across the aisle – Unlike some of my conservative friends I believe this is an important characteristic to have as the President. We need the ability to put aside partisan differences in order to solve some of the major issues our country faces.
- Military service – Not everyone will agree with me here, but I feel that it is beneficial for the President to have served in the military so that he/she really understands the cost of putting our troops in harms way.
- Not beholden to the party – McCain has been a maverick his entire career. In my opinion the President needs to put the party platform aside as needed and lead the country based on his own ideals. This is one area where I respected Bill Clinton as the President. He knew when the Republicans had a good idea, and he supported it. I believe McCain would do the same things with Democrat proposals.
Weaknesses
- Health – I suspect some people reading this will relate it purely to McCain’s age. Actually the part that concerns me more has to do with the treatment that McCain received while a POW. He has given a lot of service to his country, but that service took an awful toll on his body. I am concerned how the pressure of 4 or 8 years as the President will wear on him.
- Temper – It is pretty widely acknowledged that McCain has a pretty hot temper. While this is characteristic that many people share, it is one, that in my mind is dangerous for the President of the United States to have. Even when action is taken against our country such as 9/11 it is important that the President can remain cool in the crisis and help lead us out of it. I am not sure McCain can do that.
Barack Obama
Strengths
- Great communicator – Obama has the ability to connect with people. Since we face a time of crisis in our country this is an important ability to have. Ronald Reagan, and John F. Kennedy had the same charisma and communication ability. I think this is important as the President has to talk to the American people regularly about important topics.
- Message – Some will see this the same as being a great communicator, but in my mind the message Obama is delivering is as important as the way he delivers it. Like many people I am tired of the way Washington D.C. runs and would like to see a fresh point of view brought in. This is where Obama’s message of change appeals to me.
Weaknesses
- Lack of leadership experience – I’m not trying to claim Obama would be a bad President. The fact is that his experience is limited though, and it bugs me how this has been treated by the media. The fact is that this could be good or bad depending on what you think of the direction of our country and Washington D.C. specifically. For me I want a President who has a number of years of experience working with all three branches of government since this is an important function of the President.
- Courage of convictions – As I’ve followed the campaign it seems that Obama has changed his messages a few times. When one is seeking the presidency, over many months, there are going to be occasional times when the message requires fine tuning, changing, whatever, but it seems like Obama has to clarify his messages on a regular basis. It really makes me wonder exactly what it is he believes in.
- Judgement – I really question how the choice of Joe Biden benefits Obama. If Mr. Obama was not trying to run the message of change Biden would of been a fine choice, but when you are trying to change how Washington D.C. works it seems like a poor pick in my opinion. I would of liked Obama to pick a Senator or Governor who had experience, but was more willing to question the establishment. I would of liked to see someone like Joe Lieberman get chosen. That would of shown a more consistent message of change.
Conclusion
I tried not to list a strength of one candidate as a weakness of the other. This was intentional as it is not a scale where the inexperience of Obama is balanced out by McCain’s term in the Senate. I tried to look at each candidate individually and think about what I thought the plusses and minuses are. I also did not try and give each candidate a certain number of strengths and weaknesses in order to support McCain. I thought about each candidate and tried to quickly list the areas I thought helped and hurt them.
This is a nicely presented post. I would only point out that Obama\’s nebulous promotion of change is a smokescreen for what is clearly a leftist political and social agenda. There\’s no "change" inherent in that; It\’s just more of the same old liberalism. Biden\’s pick merely affirmed what we already knew: Obama is a hard-core leftist.
I also wondered why "Joe Biden".
Your biggest fan in California
Yes, I understand that the change message is a smokescreen. My point though is that he has done a great job in selling that message of changes as being different from what every other liberal Democrat would want to implement if elected.
I personaly think that McCain would be the best presiden and besides his running mate would be the hottest vice preident. I think that Obama would only be lokking out for black America and the rest of us would be in for a four year ride to hell. I mean the man can\’t even control his wife\’s mouth how can he controle a country.
thanks..
روعة المصري أهداف توبكات مسنجر فيديو علاج كورة كأس العالم 2010
Hey there dude – thanks for stopping by my blog and dont tell Harry but I sorta agree with you that at the Roast McCain did a better job in some ways – Obama was funny but WAY too long and he got too personal where McCain kept it short, light and witty – WHERE has THAT McCain been all election season? If he had always had such humor and wit I believe he would win – well, that and not picking Palin
I have to admit I am seriously voting AGAINST her more than anything, which is interesteing – I wonder how many other Presidential Election there have ever been where people were so strongly opposed or pro a VP Candidate – in my memory it only mattered who headed a ticket not who sat in the back seat….ANYWAY that is just my take. I realize I might be the underdog on your site…..crazy Liberal me…. 
I read this again – and after a cool head here are some counters to your points: I actually agree with everything you said about McCain though I would add that I wonder how the choice of Sarah Palin is beneficial to him – no experience and inarticulate is not my opinion of the best resource not to mention her controversial dealings with her own state turn me against her completely – I might have voted for McCain who I readily admit is a hero to our country if I were not adamantly voting against her and I don\’t think I am alone in that – I bring that up because you brought up Biden.
Speaking of Biden – the fact that Obama states he wants change, but he knows he needs experience in DC to help him achieve that actually speaks to me. EVeryine was ready to slam Obama for not having enough experience, so he obtains backing with some and now that is a detriment? He could not have picked Clinton and there really was no one else who would work with him in my opinion as well – But that said, on the experience thing, no one will have experience in the job until they do the job – it is one of those kinds of jobs. As to his message – I think he needs to keep explaining it because people, like William below, really think that he is Black first which is something he will have to battle as a leader – predjudice runs deep in this country and people are scared of the fact that he is first. Everyone was worried about Kennedy too, "The Pope will be in the White House!" It is the unknown we fear – he cannot prove himself till he does the job – no one can.
Thanks for providing the forum – talk to you soon!