How to Choose Between Obama and McCain

This November could be the most participated in election in the history of the United States. The TV ratings for Obama and McCain speeches have been huge and their faces are everywhere including "The View." I do not consider myself the most political person so I will try to discuss this in terms that the average person understands and how I have perceived all that I have heard. I feel like my opinion is fair and not leaning to one side. This way you can make a fair assessment in November. There are Republicans and Democrats that will vote along party lines regardless of who the candidate is, but those are not the people that determine the election. It is the "indepedents" that will determine this election. Independents are basically the average person that either doesn't feel a strong party affiliation or someone that doesn't really know much about politics and decides their votes possibly last minute. This is actually a high number of people. And with the importance of this election, every voter should know something about what each candidate stands for instead of just their race, age, or how they look in front of a camera. So I have come up with the main differences in their candidacy.

Taxes - Obama and McCain have differing ideas on taxes. McCain is for straight cuts across the board for every American while Obama says that he will only raise taxes on those families that will make 250K or more. Now looking at voting records, Obama has voted to raise taxes in just about every vote. He will also be raising taxes on corporations, dividends, capital gains etc. It is also believed Obama would raise the death tax. The republicans argue that Obama's plan will raise taxes for most while Obama says it will lower taxes for 95% of the population. Who to believe? I guess I would say that no one is arguing that McCain would raise taxes so if you want to be guaranteed lower taxes, McCain is your guy.

Healthcare - This is a pretty easy one. Do you think we should have a healthcare system similar to Canada's where everyone gets healthcare and it is paid for by the government and taken directly out of your paycheck? Obama is for national healthcare. He wants to cover everybody and charge people a percentage of their income. McCain is against it. Things to consider: Do you think Canada's healthcare and ones like it are better than our country's? If you don't use the healthcare system, how do you feel about paying for other people's healthcare? A program like this is said to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, what will get cut back to have a program like this? If you are for national healthcare, Obama is your guy.

Role of Government - Do you want the government to take control of more or less? Obama's plans want to make the role of government even bigger than what it currently is. Are you comfortable with the government controlling more of your rights? McCain has a smaller government perspective. He wants to put the control back into the people's hands (don't know exactly what that means). He wants to reduce government spending and Obama wants to increase it.

Abortion - This is simple, Obama is pro-choice and McCain is not. Which is more with your moral ground?

Energy - Are you for or against drilling for oil on our soil? Obama is against drilling and McCain is for it. Both candidates know drilling is not the long term answer but McCain feels it will help us reduce our independence on foreign oil while Obama doesn't want to drill in new areas. Both talk about finding new energy resources. If you are for drilling, vote McCain.

Experience - How important is experience to you? If you feel that the President of the United States should have a good amount of experience in politics that you have to vote for McCain. If you feel that experience is overrated, than this point doesn't matter. Just remember, you are picking the person to run the largest company, then ask this same question. This topic can often be overlooked, but I think it is a serious question everyone must ask themselves. If you really think about it and it doesn't matter than disregard it.

After looking at all of these topics, it should be pretty clear which way you want to vote. Both candidates will speak a lot of rhetoric over the next month or so, but these are the areas that they have differed so far. Both will say how important the average American is and pander to their crowds, but with as important as this election is going to be, you must make sure you understand more about the candidates than their surface.