This is the piece I wrote for the College newspaper wrapping up my series of articles about John McCain and the 2008 Presidential Election.
Between polls, commercials, news programs, debates and newspapers, the media is in a frenzy over an election that will change the course of America forever. John McCain is a candidate who shows solidarity as a candidate across the board whether it is in foreign policy, his policy ideas for education, his economic plan, his stances on environmental policy, and of course his wise choice of a vice president who brings a new edge to a party that so desperately needed a fresh breath of air. America needs a leader and John McCain is just that.
Foreign Policy
John McCain is a former member of the Navy where he served for 22 years as a Naval Aviator. McCain has seen the battlefield, something that neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden can tell the American people they have done, allowing McCain to identify best with troops spending time overseas to ensure the highest level of national security possible.
Since 1987, McCain has been a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, currently serving as the ranking member and also serves on the subcommittees for Readiness, Personnel and Sea Power. Senator Joe Lieberman and McCain co-sponsored legislation based on the 9/11 Commission Report, which led to the establishment of the National Counterterrorism Center. McCain takes what he believes is best for the American people and molds it into legislation necessary to ensure the safety and tranquility of the U.S. “I’m running for president to keep the country I love safe and prevent other families from risking their loved ones in war as my family has,” McCain told the audience at the RNC Convention, “I will draw on my experience with the world and its leaders, and all the tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, and the power of our ideals -- to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace.”
Education
School choice and vouchers are the innovation that McCain sees as a solution to ensure the best education possible for children. “[Education reform] is the civil rights issue of the 21st century,” said McCain to Obama during the third presidential debate. “There’s no doubt that we have achieved equal access to schools in America after a long and difficult and terrible struggle. But what is the advantage in a low income area of sending a child to a failed school and that being your only choice.”
Today, the American education system is a laughingstock among the global elite and a problem in the current global market, which so greatly begs for reform. Better teachers are needed to ensure that the minds of America’s youth receive the best education possible. McCain wants good teachers to be able to earn just as much as bad lawyers and attract the bright graduates to work in education. The McCain education plan is clearly superior to that of Senator Obama.
Economy
McCain stands strong with claims of fiscal responsibility. McCain believes in accountability of the government. He has shown support for two bills proposing a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. “I will, as president, veto every one of these big spending bills. I will impose some fiscal discipline. We will clean up our act and we will regain the confidence of the American people as being careful stewards of our tax dollars, and we will fix this problem with having to borrow money from China, then we will balance our budget, just like every governor in America has been required to do,” said McCain.
Legitimizing a vote for Barack Obama from a fiscal perspective seems nearly impossible considering his plans, which include higher taxies and more spending as per tradition of the DNC. With the economy already on edge, the best thing one can do to ensure that steady recovery of the American economy is vote for John McCain.
Environment
McCain is one of the greenest members of the GOP. McCain is in favor of reducing human-induced climate change that occurs globally as well as domestically. McCain during the second presidential debate made this pretty clear. “We can move forward, and clean up our climate, and develop green technologies, and alternative energies for battery-powered cars, so that we can clean up our environment and at the same time get our economy going by creating millions of jobs,” he said.
In 2004, McCain criticized the EPA’s work in cleanup of mercury around the country and signed a letter, along with forty-five other senators, which urged the EPA to carry out the requirements of the Clean Air Act. In 2005, he followed suit by voting to include oil and gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. With all this in mind, McCain is an excellent choice for anyone who is conscious of the current status of the environment, which includes a vision of a future with cleaner air and alternative fuels and assurance that the EPA follows through with legislation.
Running Mate
With all eyes on the Republican Party and John McCain, a dynamic and surprising move shook the attention of the American media and people. Sarah Palin became John McCain’s running mate, reinforcing him with fights against corruption as well as his belief in fiscal responsibility.
Palin brings change to a party that so desperately needs it, adding a fresh face, independent of the Washington machine and it doesn’t hurt that she brings something to the table that other vice presidential candidates didn’t: she is a woman, making her the first in the history of the Republican Party to make the ticket.
All in all, Palin is more personable and represents America as a whole better than any candidate in the 2008 election. No choice could have lifted the Republican more than choosing Palin did.
At this point in the game, it is silly, if not pointless, to consider any candidate other than John McCain who clearly dominates Barack Obama across the board. Whether it is in foreign policy, experience, education policy, economic policy, environmental policy or his choice for vice president, McCain is the most prepared to take on the role of the President of the United States. Obama is not qualified and lacks the necessary experience to hold the highest office in this nation. If Barack Obama is elected, Americans will look at Jan. 20, 2012 as the end of a terrible error, a lapse in judgment that could potentially haunt the United States of America for many years to come.
