Debate in Philadelphia: Obama, Clinton, and the Issues

In a presidential primary that has often deviated from the issues, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are going to get a chance at tonight's debate in Philadelphia to once again explore the reasons that they're seeking the office of President of the United States. Americans can once again be reminded of the qualities these two individuals posses that would make them good candidates for the presidency. Many Americans are looking forward to getting back to the issues of this contest.

In order to put her best foot forward in an incredibly important debate, Clinton needs to focus on healthcare. Clinton has long been dedicated to providing each and every American with healthcare that is not only affordable, but reliable. Clinton is not wanting to move to the socialized healthcare in the sense that she does not wish for patients to have long waits to see doctors. She is not striving for an overburdened medical staff. Instead, she simply wants a plan where people can be covered and can be seen by physicians and other medical staff. In order to obtain this, Clinton would like to impose tax breaks for working Americans to help with the price of insurance premiums. Also, preexisting conditions would no longer be able to be a factor in deciding if a person can be insured or not. Everyone would be able to be insured. The country would be moving toward health and longevity. Clinton is very passionate about healthcare in this nation, and she comes across as compassionate on the issue as well. It is important for Americans to see that side of her. When speaking of healthcare, Clinton connects with her audience in ways that she normally has trouble doing.

Clinton also needs to speak of the ways she plans on helping the middle class. There is a huge voting pool of middle class voters that are counting on Clinton to help them out if she gets elected. It will be Clinton's job to reinforce that she does have a strong desire and a plan to help middle class Americans. Tax cuts for the middle class are a strong talking point for Clinton. She claims to intend to offer a wide variety of tax cuts to the middle class, and she needs to address that at the debate. With the economy being a huge concern this election, she needs to show her stance on that as often as possible. Clinton also needs to speak on the unions, which affect many in working class America. Clinton has said that she would like to strengthen unions, and she needs to share that plan at the debate and explain how that would help the average American.

Barack Obama has proven that he has strong, respectable views on civil rights. He took a chance when he gave his speech on race in America, and that proved to be a valuable risk for his candidacy. Just because the speech has already been delivered does not mean, by any means, that Obama should quiet himself on race relations and civil rights. He needs to use his views to his advantage and show them as strengths. Obama has very progressive ideas about hate crime laws, and he should not be afraid to flaunt them. Obama believes that hate crime laws need to be expanded to fit more individuals. Obama is wise enough to realize that hate crimes go past skin color and that sexuality can also be included in crimes motivated by hate. Obama should not shy away from this topic, but instead take a strong stand on it, just as he did with race. He needs to show that civil rights can transcend color and gender.

Obama also has ideas on the prison system that could help him greatly in a debate. He feels that there are ways to cut down on repeat offenders in the prison system. Obama believes that counseling and other programs need to be offered to ex-offenders so they can integrate back into society with more success. That is a program that would not only help the offenders and their families. It would help the average American, as it would truly give offenders hope that they could turn their lives around without crime. This would be a good point for Obama to make as it would help show that he has a true understanding for rebuilding this nation from the bottom up.

Obama needs to stay away from the war in Iraq. He has used his opposition to the war as the cement for his plan for troop removal. However, he has spoken so much on Iraq that he has left many other issues off to the side. Obama needs to clean up his speeches on Iraq and save them for John McCain. Right now, he needs to worry about the primary. Most Democrats know that both Clinton and Obama would like to end the war. Since that is known, Obama needs to step back from the issue instead of giving McCain ammunition on the topic.

Clinton needs to stay away from her time as First Lady in this debate. Comments about her time in the White House have come back to haunt her of late, and she would be better off focusing on the now. It has come to be known that she did not have security clearance during her time in the White House, so trying to capitalize on "experience" during that time will mainly hurt her instead of helping her. Also, it will open her up to attacks on the sniper fire in Bosnia and on issues that occurred during her husband's term, most notably her husband's view on trade and the fact that it appeared she supported him on that issue when he was in office.

This is a very important debate for Hillary Clinton. Even though Obama has made some missteps recently, his chances of recovery are great unless Clinton has the debate of her life and Obama fails to connect with the audience. Hopefully, they will both stay with the issues in this debate and get away from the personal attacks that have littered this campaign.

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