Every four years, the Americans hold an election to choose a president from many presidential candidates who are presented to them by the different political parties. In American history, only two parties that are deemed as the mainstream political parties have produced the presidents. These are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
Despite the two parties being American and fielding American candidates, their main difference lies in policies that each candidate is supposed to package in a way that will convince voters to back them. These same policies are what define the parties and make the different Americans identify with the parties thus voting for presidential candidates who vie in their tickets.
The year 2008 was one of the many election years that have happened in American history. The year brought the two political parties on the debating table as well as on the campaign trail but this time with totally new and unique candidates (Silva para. 1-4).
Barrack Obama as the democratic candidate was the first black American to win the nomination in a major political party in American history while John McCain was the oldest American ever (at 72 years of age) to have vied for the presidency. These two candidates, therefore, had issues that they agreed on and also issues that contrasted them thus drawing their differences.
Abortion
Barrack Obama is a pro-choice supporter. Therefore, he is a strong supporter of abortion. He believes that it is a woman’s right to carry out an abortion without interference from the government. Obama sees abortion as one of the biggest fundamental rights one can have, not just as an issue of choice, but as an issue of equality too.
On the other hand, McCain is a pro-life supporter. Therefore, he is an anti-abortionist and believes that abortion should only be legalized under conditions such as if the pregnancy is as a result of rape, incest, or only when the life of the woman is endangered by the retention of the pregnancy.
Economy
On the issue of the economy, Obama and McCain almost share the same views. Whilst Obama advocates for tax incentives to companies that keep jobs in the USA, McCain advocates for tax cuts on the corporate organization from 35% to 25%. These two measures are meant to provide a favorable job creation environment, therefore making them share the same views.
Iraq
John McCain is a strong supporter of the Iraq war and he voted in the year 2002 in support of a joint resolution to authorize the American invasion of Iraq. He stands by that decision even today. Obama is a strong opponent of the Iraq war and during his 2004 senate bid; he campaigned against the war by declaring it a dumb war. To this date, Obama opposes the war by supporting the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in phases.
Climate change
Both Obama and McCain believe that global warming is real and that it cannot be ignored. They both believe that global warming will bring devastating effects if not controlled. Obama takes the approach of giving incentives to corporations that cut down on the rate of greenhouse gas emissions while McCain supports cutting the rate of emissions through the use of cleaner technology.
Health care
Barrack Obama supports universal healthcare through the purchase of drugs in bulk to minimize cost. McCain does not support universal healthcare but offers a refundable tax credit of between $2500 and $5000.
Conclusion
Although Obama and McCain seem to have totally divergent views on issues afflicting the Americans, most of the differences are spotted in the approaches they use in dealing with the problem (Obama-McCain.info para. 2-5).
Works cited
Obama-McCain.info. “Obama and McCain comparisons: issue comparisons.” 2010. Web.
Silva, Mark. “Obama vs. McCain: Study in contrasts.”The swamp. 2008. Web.