McCain /Obama

In my mind, I have trouble honing in on my opinions without writing them down, reading, editing, rereading, reediting them, etc. So, being that the election is forthcoming, I just sent in my absentee ballot application, and that the first major debate is this Friday, I thought I'd explore what I believe.

I don't understand all that much about what's going on with the economy, and have not been following political news all that closely. But I have a new goal, to read every article on the front page of the New York Times every day. It's available to me at school, for free, and I don't know whether it has a left tilt or not, but it's a rounded, all encompassing, relatively in depth daily news source, and I'm going to take advantage of that.

In regards to the economy, it seems like McCain is more on the "leave it to it's own doings," or at least he was until recent events. Now, he can't do anything but say that there must be changes to the way things are done. He also seems to be that "hands off" way towards corporations, and many other important and unwieldy aspects of daily life. In particular, I'm thinking about things he has said about emissions and environmental regulations, things which I feel to be one of the most important issues today.

Obama, on the other hand, seems to tilt more towards regulation and intervention. I may be professing my ignorance, but isn't that a major splitting point between the Democrats and Republicans? Democrats are for greater government intervention while Republicans are more for that hands off approach.

Also, in regards to my vote for president, I cannot imagine voting a evangelist like Palin into the VP seat. Before, I was relieved to see McCain emerge as the presidential candidate, being that he seemed more sane than many of the other candidates, but faced with a choice between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden, my feelings are clearly towards the Democratic side.

Okay, I probably should delve a little deeper into the issues that that. A quick Google search brought be to www.issues2000.org, which goes through each candidate's stance on the major issues. I'll first tackle the environment, being that I feel that is very important.

First an foremost, me on the environment:

I take environmental issues very seriously. I feel that in the next 50 - 100 years, our decisions today will have drastic implications for every aspect of life on this planet. Our populations is continuing to grow as a disastrous rate, fossil fuels are running out, environmental refugees are on the rise, pollution and lifestyle seems to be poisoning all of us so that cancer hits every other person during their lifetime, we're eating and burning and consuming at such a rapid rate that ecosystems are on the verge of collapse (e.g. fisheries worldwide, rain forests worldwide, pretty much every ecosystem worldwide), etc. etc. etc.

So, now John McCain on the environment: he supports state's taking charge in regards to environmental matters (e.g. California with off-shore drilling). He is a Federalist, which means (I think) that each state has the right and duty to make laws and regulations of its own. He has worked to bring money to the national parks, but supports a bill to allow more roads to be built in them. Alright, not great but not bad.

Now Obama on the environment: he has worked on environmental justice campaigns, lead paint and mercury reduction / control. He opposes the idea of Yucca mountain nuclear waste storage. He is willing to change ethanol subsidy rules to lower food prices, etc, etc. Alright, looks good too.

Sarah Palin on the Environment: she opposed a ballot to give more protection to salmon against mining contaminants, sued the US government to take polar bears off the endangered list, thinking that beluga whales shouldn't be considered endangered, wants to open ANWR (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge) to development, supports subsidies access to mines and development of other natural resources such as oil and gas. Okay, I don't like many of these things. But it doesn't list much about the bigger issues of climate change, emissions, etc.

Joe Biden on the Environment: he supports taking away subsidies to oil companies, thinks that fuel mileage is a critical issue (one that should be mandated), voted against roads in national parks, and scores a 95% in the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) tally. That's impressive. McCain scored a 53%. Obama scored a 60%. Palin scored a NA.

So, from this cursory look at the presidential / vice presidential candidates' views on the environment, I'm voting for Obama/Biden.