Education
McCain wants to place the school at the center of the education system and believes that the parents, children and teachers have a major role to play in determining the success of the education system. Obama, on the other hand, believes that the “No Child Left Behind Law” has failed and a new set of laws are required to address the issue of drop-outs, soaring costs of education and teacher retention.
It is difficult to ascertain correctly where McCain stands with respect to education but from his remarks during the campaign, it is obvious that he stands by the policies of the Bush administration as far as the issues of “No Child Left Behind”, teacher pay and cost of higher education are concerned.
Immigration
McCain has called himself an “unabashed admirer of free trade” and is all for the NAFTA and the CAFTA free trade agreements. He voted for the bills on the immigration reform though Congress twice failed to clear them through. He has gone as far as to go for a “full throated” defense of the immigration reform that nearly cost him his presidential bid. He has vowed that if elected, he would not try a “third time”. This has come in for considerable criticism from Obama who says that McCain has been flip-flopping. Obama has not been too forthcoming on the issue of immigration overhaul and has been relatively cool towards the issue of immigration legislation overhaul. In the recent past, both candidates have tried to shift the blame on each other as far as their positions go and this has led to much sparring between the two camps. Immigration as an issue is relevant as there is the Hispanic vote to contend with and thus both candidates have been cautious about this issue.
Economic issues
On trade, Obama has taken a protectionist approach that has not been to the liking of the pro-outsourcing lobby. McCain has acknowledged that though there might be loss of some jobs because of outsourcing, it benefits the economy in the long run. This is more in tune with the argument that Outsourcing is a win-win situation as far as the overall benefit to the economy is concerned.
The biggest disagreement comes as far as the issue of free trade comes in. And this is where the current economic crisis has a large role to play in shaping the attitudes of both. While Obama and the Democrats are in favor of bailing out the banks, they nonetheless want strong governmental oversight so as not to be seen as bailing out the “fat cats” who caused the mess. This has gone down well with the people as recent opinion polls show. And this has softened the earlier stance of being against free trade with most Americans being concerned about the immediate economic concerns rather than go into lengthy and long winded debates about the merits of free trade and the like.
Environmental Issue
McCain has always been known as a staunch supporter of steps to tackle global warming. Even when he was a senator, he expressed his opposition to President Bush’s stand on Global Warming and expressed a desire to sign the Kyoto protocol, if elected. Both Obama and McCain have similar stands when it comes to the issue of Global Warming.
Iraq
While Obama is a staunch opponent of the Iraq war, McCain believes that the US must stay in Iraq as long as it is necessary and is against an early troop withdrawal. Obama is pressing for troops to be brought home in a time bound manner and was against the decision to go to war against Iraq. They have divergent views as far as the Iraq war is concerned and both of them have taken positions at the opposite end of the spectrum as far as the Iraq war is concerned.
Healthcare
On Healthcare, McCain is against universal health care and his stance is more towards the rich whereas Obama has made affordable health care to everybody the center piece of his campaign. Obama has gone on record stating that the overhaul of the Health Care system would be his top priority. McCain does not devote much time to this issue when compared to the other issues.
Obama has promised to set up a new agency to deal with the Health Care reforms. His stance is that poor people should not be denied access to health care and thus his program is aimed at them.
Social policy issues
On the issue of Abortion, McCain and Obama differ as Obama is for the right of a woman to have abortion whereas McCain is against abortion except in cases where it is deemed necessary. This issue became a bone of contention during the campaign when it was found that Sarah Palin had a daughter who was going to become an unwed mother. In this context, there was much debate on the issue of abortion, though, Obama refused to be drawn into the controversy stating privacy concerns of Palin.
McCain supports same sex unions but is against gay marriage whereas Obama believes in equality for same sex couples. Obama has taken the stand that the issue of same-sex marriages must be left to the discretion of the individual states and they should take appropriate action based on the popular will of the people.