John McCain Vs. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton

With the recent announcement of Mitt Romney dropping out of the Presidential race, as examined in this BBC article, John McCain became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for the 2008 Presidential Election. While Mike Huckabee is still in the race, as an Associated Press article tells us, he has essentially wrapped up the nomination. This puts McCain against either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton on the Democratic Ticket. As a Newsday article points out, the Democratic race is probably going to go on for some time, so we won't be sure who McCain will be campaigning against for some time. However, that doesn't mean we can't look at the candidates to see where they stand on the issues. Today, we'll look at 3 key issues that are considered to be 'hot-button' issues that will be sure to determine which way a person will vote in November.

The 3 issues that will be discussed are: Iraq, Tax Cuts and Gay Marriage. When we look to Iraq, there are some key differences in the candidates positions, and it allows the voters to have a clear choice between McCain or the Democratic nominee.

John McCain has been one of the few supporters of the war in Iraq and it actually hurt him earlier in the campaign. While he has said that he war was mismanaged, he feels that it is a good idea. According to his website, he states that "A greater military commitment now is necessary if we are to achieve long-term success in Iraq." McCain clearly is the biggest supporter of staying in Iraq and has always been a supporter of it.

Senator Hillary Clinton is another matter. Clinton has had to defend her stance on the Iraq war because she voted for the authorization to President Bush to go to war but has said continuously since that she was misled and that we need to get out of Iraq. On her website, she states "Hillary has been fighting every day in the Senate to force the president to change course. And today she described how she would bring the war to an end." So while she originally did support the war, she differs from McCain in that she feels we need to get out of Iraq sooner rather than later.

Barack Obama has had the priviledge of campaigning against the war 100%. He was not in the Senate at the time of the authorization and has stated consistantly that he is the best candidate on this issue. According to his website, he states that he has always been opposed to the war: "As a candidate for the United States Senate in 2002, Obama put his political career on the line to oppose going to war in Iraq, and warned of 'an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.' Obama has been a consistent, principled and vocal opponent of the war in Iraq." He has continued on this line that he is the best one to debate Senator McCain on this issue because he has always oppossed it, unlike Clinton.

When looking at the issue of Tax Cuts, it once again creates a good dividing line between McCain and the Democratic nominee. Senator McCain actually campaigned against President Bush's tax cuts when they were first put into place, however, as we see in his website, he is now for making them permanent. His website dedicates significant amounts of space discussing the various tax cuts that he would support as President.

Senator Clinton has stated that she wants to continue to have tax cuts for the middle class and poor, but wants to eliminate the Bush tax cuts that are targeted towards the wealthy. According to one of her statements, she states that Bush's policies have created serious problems and she would eliminate those tax cuts.

Senator Obama also considers President Bush's tax cuts to be irrisponsible and he also wants to eliminate the majority of them. According to his website, he states "Obama will protect tax cuts for poor and middle class families, but he will reverse most of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers." So again, there is a clear deliniation between McCain and the two Democratic candidates.

Finally, lets look at the issue of Gay Marriage. According to Senator McCain's website, he feels that marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. He feels that the courts should not be allowed to tell the states what to do. Essentially he is oppossed to gay marriage and the rights of the gay and lesbian community to have equal rights under the law.

When looking at Senator Clinton and Senator Obama's stance on gay marriage we see a lot of similarities. While they are both oppossed to a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, they are both for gay and lesbians to have the right of civil unions. While neither candidate expands on this issue on their websites, according to On the Issues, both candidates are for civil unions and feel that the States should decide.

So, while there is still some time to go before we have two candidates. When looking at 3 key issues, we can see that there is a clear difference between Senator McCain, and whoever wins the Democratic nomination. With that in mind, voters will have a clear choice between two candidates.

Kevin Connolly, "Mitt Quits in Presidential Style", BBC News

Ben Feller, "Bush Ready to Back GOP Nominee", Associated Press

Craig Gordon, "Democrats still battle while McCain win seems sure", Newsday

John McCain, "Strategy for Victory in Iraq", John McCain.com

Hillary Clinton, "Ending the War in Iraq", Hillary Clinton.com

Barack Obama, "War in Iraq", Barack Obama.com

John McCain, "McCain Tax Cut Plan", John McCain.com

Hillary Clinton, "Hillary Clinton's economic blueprint for the 21st century", Hillary Clinton.com

Barack Obama, "Plan for restoring Fiscal Discipline", Barack Obama.com

John McCain, "Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life", John McCain.com

Jesse Gordon, "Every Candidates Stance on the Issues", On the Issues.org